I am fortunate enough to be the daughter of a very talented seamstress (although she would never have admitted it) whom I am sure originally learned to sew out of practical necessity, and perhaps partly because that is what all girls were expected to be able to do in her time. She had many skills and interests, not the least of which were sewing and quilting, knitting (hand and machine), crocheting, needle punch, cake decorating, ceramics, making jewelry and woodworking - the later of which I was not even aware that she even did for most of my life. The items she made, whether fabric or wooden, were carefully created and made to last. She took the time necessary to make everything look professionally crafted and fortunately she passed the passion and appreciation for all things handmade on to me. I pay homage to my mother by continuing to enjoy and create the things she taught me to love.As a fiber artist and designer my mind translates what I see into two and three dimensional pieces of art made of fabric, fibers, paper, wood and all sorts of other findings. The tools of my trade include those of a typical "artist", paint, pencils, paper, sketches and such, but there are other tools such as sewing machines, fabrics, threads and the like that I use the most. Computer graphics and digital photography lend themselves handily to my machine embroidery digitizing skills and designing interests.
Living in Maine, photo opportunities abound. Known for our rocky coastline and deep forests there is never a lack of places to visit and revisit. Although born in Maine, I enjoy playing tourist and take hundreds of pictures wherever I go. I recently designed several sets of note cards featuring artistic renditions of some photographs I have taken on my "tours". You can find them at: FloDo Designs on Etsy
In the coming weeks and months I hope to tell you more about my projects and introduce you to some other handmade artists of Maine who share the same passion as I for all things handmade.
