Stitches are how Tricia Coulson got to be an artist. Hand stitching doll clothes, embroidering tea towels or cross-stitching, this interest continued into machine stitching and the construction of her own clothes as an adolescent. It wasn’t until she returned to college after a fifteen-year break, that she took the artistic possibilities of fiber seriously. Taking a surface design class her first semester, she then realized what she wanted to do. She spent the next four years with a fevered passion that she never had for anything else before in her life. Now Tricia Coulson spends her time working part time and creating her own artwork. She has been exhibiting locally and nationally for the last ten years, including Craft National 32 and 36. Her work has been published in FiberArt Design Book 5 and 7.

Artifacts: 2
NFS

Dyed tea bags, cotton, printed cotton embroidery floss, beads, paint
Dying, seed stitch, hand and machine stitched

Producing and creating art starts out with an incredible amount of time, so out of character with today’s production oriented values. This process provided me with a unity of hand and spirit, reaffirming the human elements in our daily lives. This work was inspired by my interest in excavating and the southwest. It reflects the visual attraction I have to broken shards and their unpredictability. Dyed tea bags lend themselves to the feel of some ancient and neglected ruins, and, as with every work of art, I have applied my own sense of aesthetics.