Artist's Statement:
I love fabric. It has life in so many dimensions: practical, structural, literary, symbolic, cultural, personal, visceral. It’s been my ongoing avenue for expression and exploration. Weaving, drawing, and writing are synonymous for me. For thirty years I worked at the loom, fascinated by the ritual and orderly building of the fabric. Initially I wove cloth and explored textile traditions. The loom subsequently gave me a place to allow my intuition to guide me as I created intimate black and white fields of patterns, marks, and figures. At the same time, there were also my notebooks.
Working in my notebooks has always been a vital part of my creative life. Since childhood, keeping a notebook has been my way of making the physical world and my responses to it more vivid. There is both discipline and liberation in this commitment to documenting on a regular basis a moment or experience. My notebooks have increasingly become sensory delights containing expressive studies and inventions, objects in themselves. Now, inspired by my notebook practice, my work is moving in new directions.
Selected Collections:
- Nova Scotia Art Bank
- Canada Council Art Bank
- Massey Foundation Collection, Canadian Museum of Civilization
- Mount Saint Vincent University Art Gallery
- Cranbrook Art Museum
- Robert Pfannebecker Collection
- Wetsmen Collection
Selected Solo Exhibitions:
- Weaving Out Loud, The Museum of Textiles, Contemporary Gallery, Toronto ON. Traveled to Cranbrook Art Museum, Bloomfield Hills MI, and Saint Mary’s University Art Gallery, Halifax NS, 1995/96
- Challenge Exhibitions, Samuel S. Fleisher Art Memorial, Philadelphia PA, 1991
- Unusual Animals, Anna Leonowens Gallery III, Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, Halifax NS, 1984
- Weavings from Nova Scotia, Craftsmen’s Guild of Mississippi, Jackson MI, 1979
- Sandra Brownlee: Weavings, Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, Halifax NS, 1978
Selected Group Exhibitions:
- Cranbrook to Lancaster and Back - Contemporary Works in Clay, Fiber, and Metal from the Robert Pfannebecker Collection, Cranbrook Art Museum, Cranbrook Academy of Art, Bloomfield Hills MI, 2005
- The Other Tradition, Alternative Representations and Eccentric Abstraction in Philadelphia, 1967-2003, University of the Arts, Philadelphia PA, 2003
- Survey Fiber 2002, Snyderman/Works Gallery, Philadelphia PA, 2002
- Crosscurrents 2000: Handle With Care, Loose Threads in Fiber, University of Maryland, College Park MD, 2000
- Studio Visit: Philadelphia Artists at Work, Art in City Hall, Philadelphia PA, 2000
- Miniatures 2000, Helen Drutt Gallery, Philadelphia PA and Museum of Art and Design, Helsinki, Finland, 2000
- Surface, Strength, Structure, Pertaining to Line, Snyderman/Works Gallery, Philadelphia PA, 2000
- Knotted, Stitched & Woven, Fiber Art by the 1997 recipients of the Leeway Foundation Awards, Philadelphia Art Alliance, Philadelphia PA, 1997
Selected Awards and Commissions:
- Public Art Program, Philadelphia PA, "Garden of Joy" textile permanent installation, Lobby, One Parkway Place, Philadelphia PA, 2003
- The Leeway Foundation Grant for Excellence in Fiber Arts, 1997
- University of the Arts Venture Fund Grant to attend RISD Bookworks workshop, Providence RI, 1995
- The Pew Fellowship in the Arts, 1991-92
- National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship Grant, 1988-89
- Pennsylvania Council for the Arts Grant, 1988-89
- Canada Council Project Grant for deluxe edition of GRRRHHHH...A Study of Social Patterns, 1987
- Ontario Arts Council Grant to Individual Craftsmen, 1986, 1985
- Canada Council "B" Grant, 1985/86
Teaching and Professional Experience:
- Nova Scotia College of Art and Design University, Halifax NS, Weaving, 2005/06, 1971/79
- The Agnes Irwin Lower School, Rosemont PA, multidiscipline art teacher, K-4, 1996-2005
- University of the Arts, Philadelphia PA, Fibers, 1987-1996
- Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore MD, Weaving, 1992-1994
-Tyler School of Art Graduate Program, Temple University, Elkins Park PA, Fibers, 1989/90
- Korean Institute of Design and Packaging, Seoul, Korea, Design Consultant, 1995
- Philadelphia College of Textiles and Science, Weaving and textile research, 1991-95
- Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, Deer Isle ME, Textiles, weaving, 1995, 1993
- The Fabric Workshop, Philadelphia PA, Artist-in-Residence, 1994
- National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, India, Visiting artist, 1993
- Statens Hogskole Kunsthandverk og Design, Bergen, Norway, 1989
- The Penland School, Penland, NC, Woven Imagery, 1987, 1985
Education:
- Master of Fine Art, Cranbrook Academy of Art, Bloomfield Hills MI, 1981
- Bachelor of Fine Art, Diploma in Art Education, Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, Halifax NS, 1971
Contact Information:
9 Hester Street
Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, B3A 1K3, Canada
902-405-9407
