From a very young age, I have always been drawn to the fiber arts. Whether it was my grandmother’s quilting or my mother’s knitting and crocheting, I was always fascinated by all things fabric and fiber. Art class was always my escape throughout school. When I was in high school I was allowed to take art classes as long as my “real” course grades did not suffer. When I was a junior in High school I received the National Scholastic Art Award Gold Key. I informed my Mother and she replied “That’s nice dear” thinking that it was a school-wide award. I later found out that I had also won the Blue Ribbon and was invited to the National Award Ceremony in Philadelphia. At that point my parents started to take notice! In college at Northern Michigan University, while working towards a Public Relations degree, I “indulged” myself in a number of art classes. My concentration was in ceramics; however I also got my first real taste of Fiber Arts. Somewhere between weaving, felting and spinning I was hooked. For my 20th birthday I received an inexpensive sewing machine and I have never looked back! Shortly thereafter I stole my mom’s much more expensive machine to “give it the life it truly deserves.” After a number of years in the full-time world, I found myself married with a child on the way. After much reflection, my husband, Chris and I decided that my 60+ hour work weeks did not match well with a newborn. I left the pay check world. During those first couple of years at home with my daughter Grace; I found a re-emerging creativity that I didn’t even know I had desperately missed. As I made more and more pieces, I began to hear… “Oh my gosh, you should sell those.” So in October of 2001, I steeled my nerves and jumped in with both feet: I started Savage Fiber Arts. I have been doing juried art shows in the Michigan area ever since. It has been a real learning experience; many years later and I feel like maybe I am finally beginning to get the hang of it! All the crossovers between mixed media and fiber arts are so exciting. Recently I have been experimenting with the idea of incorporating repurposed items into jewelry. I am making necklace pendants out of domino gamepieces and hardware store washers. Then (because I can’ t help myself) I add a generous helping of fiber to the whole thing! When I am in my studio, I feel no sense of time or obligation. I only feel the need to express my ideas. There are times when it feels like I have more designs in my head than I have sketch books to fill. I felt a true freedom when I realized that I could add glass, metal, beads and other embellishments to my “fiber art” pieces. With cutting edge publications like Quilting Arts and Cloth, Paper, Scissors I learned that there are plenty of other artists fascinated with these different mediums. What was long considered “woman’s work” is finally starting to receive the attention and merit that it has always deserved. This is such a wonderful time to be an artist! |
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| Sidney Savage Inch Biography |
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