Fiber: KAREN JAMES SWING
				"I have loved fibers in one form or another since the age of twelve when I was introduced to macramé. Since then, I have experimented with weaving, crocheting, knitting, hand embroidery, trapunto, traditional quilting, machine quilting and surface design. Currently, I am focusing on the tactile surfaces of quilting and machine embroidery on hand-painted and printed fabrics. My main focus is always color and texture. "Using hand-dyed, hand printed fabric and commercially printed fabric, I machine quilt and embroider. Then, with further embellishment, I create layers of color and texture. Colors are greatly affected by other colors. By playing with this relationship, colors are intensified and almost take on a life of their own. Adding layers of texture add more depth and character." "My main medium is textiles, including Machine embroidered art pieces. The embroideries begin as pastels or paintings, which are then scanned and printed onto special fabric and covered completely with thread. Most of the pastels available at #7 Arts have a twin embroidery!" Selected Publications Quick and Easy Vests and Jackets, by Kate Mathews, Lark Books, 1999  Making Handbags and Purses, by Carol Parks, Lark Books, 1998 (Featured on book jacket)  Weekend Sewer's Guide to Dresses, by Kate Mathews, Lark Books, 1998  Weekend Sewer's Guide to Blouses, by Kate Mathews, Lark Books, 1998  Fiberarts Design Book Five, Fiberarts Magazine, 1995  Make your Own Great Vests, by Carol Parks, Lark Books, 1995 Selected Exhibitions Georgia O'Keefe Theme Juried Show, Thirteen Moons Gallery, Santa Fe, NM, 2000  Focus Gallery, FolkArt Center, Asheville, NC, June-July 1998  Spotlight 97 - American Craft Council Southeast Regional Juried Show, Hickory Museum of Art, Hickory, NC June-August 1997  Crafts of the Southern Highlands, William King Regional Arts Center, Abingdon, VA, September-December 1996 Other Affiliations Southern Highland Craft Guild  Piedmont Crafters  Instructor, John C. Campbell Folk School