About Kim Hambric
I have been a fiber artist for 13 years. I create fiber art to experience color and share this experience with others. I enjoy creating energy from placing colors side by side.
My love of color and texture has prompted me to work with several types of media: paint, paper and fabric. The ability to move around colors, components and patterns always brings me back to working with textiles.
I invite you to look below to learn how I lay out my pieces, hand-dye and stamp much of my fabric, and apply beads and applique to many of my pieces.
If you're interested in learning more about how I make my art, and about my thoughts on quilt art, and life in general, you're welcome to visit my blog.
Fabric and layout
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I use only all-cotton fabrics for my artwork. When laying out a new piece, I stack mounds of fabric on my work surface and try them all out, all the time looking for a certain energy that is created when fabrics work well together, but have enough contrast and tension to give life to the piece. Many times, I discover new combinations accidentally, when a few bits of fabric tossed to the side seem to go together. My preferred design style is a foundation of squares and rectangles, often overlaid with curves through stitching and applique. |
Painting Fabric
My art relies primarily on nature for its imagery. I create my own fabrics using paints that react with the sun. I often use leaves, pine needles, or grasses to pattern my fabrics. I also use shapes cut from thin sheets of foam.
On the left is a piece of fabric saturated with paint, and covered with leaves drying in the sun. After the paint is dry, I remove the leaves (or other pieces), heat-set my fabrics with an iron, and my fabric is ready to use (see right).
Stamping fabric
I hand-carve rubber stamps and imprint shapes from nature onto my fabrics. Gingko and maple leaves, artichokes, snakes, spirals, and dancing female figures are my favorites.
Applique and stitching
On most pieces, I incorporate applique and decorative stitching to create more texture and movement. This is when I add any curved shapes to a piece. Extra color and energy are often added through thick stitching throughout a piece or around an applique. Examples are details of “Luiz” (left), and “Getz” (right).
Embellishing with Beads
I sew beads within and on the bottom edge of many of my pieces. This is the final stage in creating my wallhangings.
On the left are samples of the beads I use, and on the right are detailed photos “Little Village”, and “Strata” that incorporate different styles of beading.