I am French and live in the city of Nantes in Brittany, the most western tip of Europe. I taught languages in several European countries and am now retired. When I was younger, I used to crochet a lot, or embroider in cross-stitch. But I did not know anything about art quilt until 5 years ago.
In 2015 I walked across France on long-hiking trails from west to east - 700 miles from Nantes to Basel, the Swiss border and at some point was hosted by a woman who made those wonderful, beautiful patchwork bedspreads. It fascinated me so much that after going back home, I started looking for classes in order to learn. After a couple of bedquilts, I knew that I was not interested in traditional patchwork, as beautiful as it may be, but in the creative process, not the implementing of a pattern.
That’s when I discovered art quilting. This discovery quickly developed into a total passion, and my life is now devoted to dyeing my own fabrics, sketching, cutting, sewing, creating, trying on the design wall and quilting. As I learned with some renowned American artists, I work with « no rules, no rulers, no patterns » and I am absolutely delighted with it.
This new/ emerging group of over a dozen artists creating fabric paintings is indeed a PERSPECTIVE. It will allow us to exchange techniques, points of views, cultural aspects and so many other things.
"Dreams of a future", 2020. A recurrent theme for me: window views, imaginary landscapes and bright, cheerful, soothing colors!
My website: annebellas.com
My email: annbellas@orange.fr