Lesley Riley
Preserving Memories - as 'Fabric Art'
The beauty of Lesley Riley's 'memory collages' is that they are very much alive - as art. Lesley is coming from the USA, specially for the festival
A native of Washington, DC, in the United States, Lesley Riley is known internationally as a mixed-media artist as well as a quilter extraordinaire; and, in June this year, she will be appearing at the Brisbane Textile Art Festival as Cecile Whatman's guest at the Unique Stitching Stand 44.
“My first love is fabric,” Lesley affirms, “and you will find some in all my projects.” Although she has already spent over a decade creating mixed media and quilt art, she feels it was her recent books and work with products like Lutradur and TAP (Transfer Artist Paper) that have thrown her into the limelight lately. “Their versatility excites me,” she exclaims, “and as they're relatively new, my students and I are constantly discovering fresh ways of using them. I particularly like the effects of combining the two,” she adds.
Probably best known for her Fragment series of small fabric collages, Lesley found a winning 'niche area' with her first book, Quilted Memories, which combined the 'preserving memories' aspect of scrapbooking and quilting with textile art. The second one, however, called Fabric Memory Books, goes even further by linking fabric with the art of bookmaking.
Although, as the mother of six, Lesley maintains that teaching is just part of who she is, she admits she very much enjoys the process - and inspiring her students. “I love creating an 'Aha!' moment for them,” she beams.
“I have also been very fortunate,” she goes on, “as my teaching has taken me to places I never imagined I would travel to, including most of the US, a trip to Italy and New Zealand, and now - my second trip to Australia!”
Come and meet Lesley and see her do her 'magic' with the versatile Lutradur and TAP products for yourself. She will be at the Unique Stitching Stand 44, at the Textile Art Festival, Saturday to Monday, June 11-13, 2011, at Brisbane Exhibition Centre, South Bank.
Presented by Unique Stitching, Stand 44
NEWSFLASH: Lesley's TAP Transfer Art Paper wins Best Innovation of the Year award at USA trade show - announced January 31, 2011.
Congratulations Lesley!