Vinda G Robison
Statement
I am an artist painting on fabric making art quilts, as well as painting on paper. I create images filled with whimsical patterns and designs, as I let my imagination go wherever it leads me. I’m drawn to the peaceful and calming feeling I get when I am bringing a plain white piece of fabric or paper to life, adding colors or manipulating it using various techniques.
Using prepared for dye white fabric, I paint with Tsukineko Inks, to bring my image alive, then quilt it to hang as a painting. On paper I enjoy mixing and layering with colored pencils, watercolor, acrylics, pen and pencil.
I am fascinated with taking realistic images and making them fit my vision and creating my own fantasy characters and creatures. I use my memory of things, such as a horse’s head to redesign it into a dragon’s head. I like to invite friends over to my yard, Bobcat, Bear, and Bird, so that I can watch and listen until they tell me a story. I try to create their personality or story into my art world.
BIO
Growing up, I was surrounded by Mother Nature at her best. Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Park were both only an hour drive from my home. I learned to spot wild animals, and beautiful scenery around every bend. Being part of a rodeo family, I learned how animals could move and contort their bodies, making for great visualization. Designing my own clothes from a young age taught me to put pieces and fabric together that most people may not. My grandmother planted the seeds for my quilting when I was 5 & 6 years old, but I did not act on it until many years later.
Traveling quite a bit allowed me to file nature and wildlife in my memory banks, and meet my husband when I was 19, in Rota, Spain, where he was a US Naval Flight Officer. 3 months later we were married. Spontaneous, instinctive, or natural feelings that I believe should be done, has gifted me with many treasures for life and art over the years. Learning to love the culture wherever we moved with the Navy kept my imagination alive. Having two wonderful children kept me primed with necessary wit and colorful verbiage.
Settling below the shadow of Pikes Peak, I started pulling from my memory banks. Watching birds, wildlife, and seasons change in my back yard has allowed me to develop my artist skills. Life has a way of coming full circle. My evolution of quilting, painting quilts, and making art has been a way for me to be learning, making mistakes, and happy accidents every day, so that I am the artist that I am today.