Laurel Fisher Gallery

Lauren Dame

Wendy Dame

I started sewing as a 6-year-old, when my mother bought me a little sewing kit.  I first made clothes for my dolls, and by the time I was 10, I was sewing clothes for myself, and made most of my clothes throughout high school.  I made my first quilt when I was a freshman in college.  When I came home for Christmas vacation, I decided to make a quilt to brighten up my small, beige dorm room.  I made it from the many scraps of blue and green Hawaiian print fabrics that I had collected over years of sewing.  I loved the resulting quilt, but also enjoyed the process, discovering the fun of using fabric to create a design.  Since that first quilt, I have made dozens of quilts over the years.

Many quilters open their artists’ statements by explaining that they learned sewing and quilting from their mothers, aunties, and grandmothers; that a long line of quilters in the family meant that they were destined to become a quilter.  But my experience was different:  my mother did not sew, which I believe helped, rather than hindered, my growth as a quilter. Although she did not sew, my mother was very supportive of my sewing, and gave me money to buy fabric. Because I did not have someone to show me how to do things “correctly,” I experimented as I went along.  There was no right or wrong way to sew, only techniques that led to the results I wanted (or did not want).  Sewing was fun and challenging because I was always learning, inventing, and discovering new ways to do things.

For me, quilting is a form of art and creativity.  I am not making quilts to sell or to please a hypothetical viewer, but instead for the pleasure of playing with fabric, colors, and shapes.  Over the years, my style of quilting has expanded as I have tried different things.  My process starts with an idea—some shapes or colors that intrigue me, and I formulate a general idea of what I want the quilt to be.  I love pulling together fabrics, and arranging them in different ways as I see what works.  While I start with a general plan, I make changes as I go along, and often the resulting quilt is significantly different from my initial idea.  The difference between what I thought I would make, and the finished quilt, is the magic that makes it fun and keeps me quilting.

I started watercolor painting about 10-11 years ago, after only dabbling with it as a child. I always viewed myself as the least artistic of the 5 daughters in the Dame family. In my mid-60’s, I browsed through a Eugene Parks & Rec catalogue and a 3-day class at Willamette Oaks – “Introduction to Watercolor Painting” – caught my eye. I had always loved the look of watercolors, so it intrigued me. However, my first reaction was, “No, you can’t do this so late in life. You are not artistic!” The next morning, when I woke up, I felt adventurous and decided to sign up. That was the beginning.

Watercolor painting is probably the most difficult medium to begin with as a painter – it dries quickly and is unforgiving. Unlike oil painting, if you try to paint over an area that you don’t like, it can become “muddy”. However, watercolor painting is filled with the quality of the unknown – it is not predictable, so it is a fabulous adventure. That’s the joy of watercolor painting – you just never know how the painting is going to turn out and sometimes you can amaze even yourself.