Anita Jacques
Anita Jacques’ mother enjoyed painting and sewing, and encouraged her to do the same. She taught Anita to sew when she was 7 years old. Anita has a memory of her mother sitting at her sewing machine, Anita standing at her side, talking and watching her sew. Perhaps that is why she has always been drawn to sewing, and has transformed a domestic sewing machine into a tool for art, mutating fabrics into paint as the world is interpreted in a wondrous expression of fiber art.
Anita began creating her fiber art pieces in 2001 after viewing a program of an artist who created their art from fabric and thread verses traditional paints. Having been inspired by a unique form of expression that connected her to my past, she developed her own style and technique of this contemporary art form. Most of her pieces are influenced through her life experiences, remarkable places, and photographs of her travels. When using the photographs, she pulls fabric from her color coded bins and color coordinate the thread to the fabric. She cuts a piece of fabric and felt batting and affix them together using spray adhesive. She then begins “building” the art piece layer upon layer by freehand cutting the desired shapes out of the selected fabrics. After spraying each piece with temporary spray adhesive, she then affixes it to the felt, creating her visual interpretation. She continues until she is satisfied with the composition, she then machine sews (thread paints) each individual piece of fabric in its place. When she is finished with the sewing, the work is mounted onto a luan backer board, usually sprayed with a UV protection, stain guard, and water repellent, prior to framing.
