Susan Brooks

bio & resume

Having volunteered in a women’s prison for seven years, I discovered a treasure of beautiful women who have the same hopes, dreams and desires as every woman.  Dreams of beauty, successful marriages and joyful children, free from fear.  I have been drawn to the strength I see in women to survive and thrive under difficult life circumstances.
The body of my work deals with the issues every woman wrestles with, the longing to be seen, heard and loved for who we are.  I created a series of quilts, “Women in Prison: From Shame to Freedom”  to chronicle the journey of a woman I call Daisy in her flight to freedom.

Work based on my daughter, Chara DeWolf’s, book of poetry, Rush Of Water. tells  the story involves a woman’s quest to be loved, only to discover that she must look within to see her own beauty and not to have another to fulfill her dreams.

My work on a trafficking series is a call to stop and see this violation of women.

Most recently, my art has focused on the courageous Syrian refugee women as they escape the violence in their war-torn country to create a safe life and home for their families in Lebanon.

Dark colors with little contrast express a sense of dread, but include imagery to give hope of new found life.  The message I wish my art to express is one of reaching for our highest dreams.  To overcome and become the best that we were created as women to be.

Fabric provides the opportunity to build layers giving a sense of protection, safety and security.  I create my own fabrics through dyeing, resists and painting and then am able to add dimension and detail through the use of stitches.  Not only do I use hand dyed fabrics, but have focused on the elements in plant life to imprint the images of leaves and flowers to create another layer of delicate beauty and interest.  It is a joy to my heart to take a piece of white plain fabric, use plants, dyes, paints and stitches to create a visual piece and tell a story.

Differing techniques are used to express differing emotions.  Deconstructed silk printing is used for a very organic look and soy wax resists to create a sense of dimension. The use of painting thicken dyes on plastic has been used for my women monoprints. The morphing of the dyes give a feel of surrealism.  Botanical dyeing, plant based dyes and prints, introduce the beauty of nature into my work.  The love of the stitching, connecting threads hold the pieces together.

The tactile feel and visual beauty of fabric has been a motivation to creativity.  As a child, I was fascinated by the possibility of transforming a flat piece of cloth into a uniquely crafted article of clothing.  After a journey of making dolls, garments and quilts, I am now driven to experiment with new techniques in dyeing, painting and embellishing fabric.  I enjoy sharing my passion with others by teaching these techniques and broadening my own exploration in fabric art.  My aspiration is to tell a story, engage the viewer in a dialogue and challenge them to a deeper emotional experience.

RESUME:

EXHIBITS:
• January – May, 2022 – Reflections in Boulder CO – Hidden, My Mother’s Memories – She Had None and My Syrian Friend
• 2021 – Front Range Contemporary Quilters Portfolio – Rachel’s Daisies and My Syrian Friend
• 2020 – Front Range Contemporary Quilters Portfolio – The Blue Sash
• April – May, 2020 – SAQA Foothills Art Gallery, Golden, CO – Meandering Memories
• June – August – 2020 – Brighton Museum of Art and History, in Flagstaff, AZ – Meandering Memories
• December, 2019 – January, 2020 – NCAR Art Gallery, Boulder, CO Emerald Lake, Hidden, Little Bird, Together, My Mother’s Memories – She Had None
• July – September, 2019 – Sacred Threads, Virginia – My Mother’s Memories – She Had None
• July, 2019 thru present – Sacred Thread – Eye Contact
• June-August, 2018 – 3 pieces in FACE of Fiber In The Rockies, Art
• Center of Estes Park, Estes Park, CO
• May, 2018 – 3 pieces in The Border Wall Quilt Project. Showing in
• Houston, TX and Mexico
• July – August, 2017 – 35th Annual New Legacies: Contemporary
• Art Quilts, Lincoln Center, Ft. Collins, Co
• Front Range Contemporary Quilters – 2 pieces in show at Denver
• Center for Preforming Arts Gallery
• Contemporary Fiber, 2016 – Niza Knoll Gallery, Denver, CO
• Artist Talk
• July – August, 2016 – 3 pieces in Abstracting The West, Laramie,
• Wyoming
• 2016 – Front Range Contemporary Quilters Portfolio
• 2015 – Front Range Contemporary Quilters Portfolio
• June – August, 2015 – New Legacies: Contemporary Art Quilts Exhibition, Ft. Collins, CO
• January – December, 2015 – Creations – through the Adventist Hospitals, Parker, Denver, Castle Rock and Louisville, CO
• June-August, 2014 – Contemporary Fiber Colorado, 2014 at Helikon Art Gallery, Denver, CO
• June-August, 2014 – Six Face of Eve, at Art Haus Art Gallery, Denver, CO
• Front Range Contemporary Quilters Portfolio – 2014, cover – “Healing Winds”
• January, 2014 – Parker Adventist Hospital Cancer Center Opening with commission piece – Healing Winds
• January, 2014 – Front Range Contemporary Quilters, Celebrating 25 Years – Dairy Barn, Boulder, Colorado – “Him”
• January, 2014 – A Rise For Freedom – Human Trafficking, Denver Public Library, Denver, CO – “Women in Prison – From Shame to Freedom”
• December, 2013 – Commission piece into Parker Adventist Hospital Cancer Center – “Healing Winds”
• December, 2013 – Quilters Newsletter – Studios edition
• September, 2013 – Denver Art Museum – On The Plaza – Demo of Eco Dyeing – “Conversations”
• July – August, 2013 – Fantasy – Front Range Contemporary Quilters, Foothills Art Center, Golden, CO – “Angels”, “Magnifying Glass”
• June – July, 2013 – Four Corners, Flagstaff, AZ – “Conversations”, “Tears”
• May – June, 2013 – Parker Adventist Hospital – Healing Arts solo show, Parker, CO – “Firmly Planted”, “Kansas”, “Trees”, “Gardens”, “Open Windows”
• May, 2013 – December, 2015 – Quilt National, Athens, OH – “Together”
• May, 2013 – Mancuso Show, Denver, CO – “In the Storm”, “Open Window”, “Journey – Letting Go”
• January, 2013 – Front Range Contemporary Quilters – Red Rocks Community College, Lakewood, CO – “Five O’Clock”, “Journey – Letting Go”
• January – March, 2013 – Art of The State, Arvada Art Center, Arvada, CO – “Remembrance, Deceived”
• Front Range Contemporary Quilters Portfolio – 2013 – “In The Storm”
• July – August, 2012 – Front Range Contemporary Fiber Art Exhibit – Bold: Bold Color, Bold Design, Bold Texture, Bold Art – Red Rocks Community College, Lakewood, CO – “Seasons”, “Firmly Planted”
• April – October, 2012 – Taiwan International show – “Journey – Letting Go”, “Remembrance: Broken”, and “Breath”
• April – October, 2012 – Celebrate Spring show in Ohio – “Gardens”
• March, 2012 – Private show at Boulder Manor, Boulder, CO – 10 pieces shown
• January – February, 2012 – State of The Art, Surface Design, Red Rocks Community College, Lakewood, CO
• May, 2012 – Mancuso, Denver, CO – “Mud”, “Reality”, “Remembrance: Deceive”, “Seasons”
• September – December, 2011 – September 11th show at First United Methodist Church, Boulder, CO – “Remembrance series: Deceived, Broken & Heal”
• 2011-2012 – Uncommon Cloth Group shows at First United Methodist Church, Boulder, CO
• August, 2011 – Front Range Contemporary Quilters Red Rocks Show, Lakewood, CO – “Mud”, “Reality”
• May, 2011 – December, 2013 – “Little Bird” – Quilt National
• March, 2010 – Lafayette Public Library Show, Lafayette, CO – “Flight”
• January, 2010 – SAQA show – Firehouse, Longmont, CO – “Movement Through Space and Time”
• August, 2009 – November, 2013 – The Jewelry Project – Shown in Japan, France and the US – “African Jewels”
• August – September, 2009 – Uncommon Cloth’s Art Show at Meridian Retirement Community
• October – December, 2008 – St. John’s Art Show, Boulder, CO – Uncommon Cloth’s – “Beyond The Cloth”
• June, 2006 – Quaking Aspen – Bog Coat Challenge – First Place
• August, 2005 – First place prize for Appliqué Quilt – “Visions of Colorado” – Colorado Legacy Quilt Challenge
• July – November, 2004 – Quilts on display at “The Pizza Place”, Lafayette, CO
• 1997 – Boulder County Fair – First place prize for pencil drawing “The Face of AIDS”

COMMISSION PIECES:
2014 – Healing Winds for Parker Adventist Hospital Cancer Center

PUBLICATIONS:
• 2021 – Collaborate With Mother Nature: Botanical Printing with the Heat Press by Jane Dunnewold – 5 pieces of my heat pressed botanicals
• 2021 – How Art Heals – Exploring Your Deep Feelings Using Collage by Andra F. Stanton – Daisy, Reality
• 2019 – Eco-Dyed Art Journals – Using Natures Imprints by Susan Brooks
• 2014 – Front Range Contemporary Quilters – 2014 (cover)
• 2013 – Quilt National 2013
• 2013 – Quilters Newsletters Magazine – Creative Spaces
• 2013 – Fantasy – Front Range Contemporary Quilters
• 2013 – Front Range Contemporary Quilters Portfolio – 2013
• 2013 – Art Of The State – Remembrance – Deceived
• 2012 – Taiwan International Quilt – 2012
• 2012 – Bold Color, Bold Design, Bold Texture, Bold Art – FRCQ
• 2011 – Quilt National 2011 The Best of Contemporary Quilts
• 2011 – A Fiber Artist’s Guide to Color and Design by Heather Thomas – The Prison Series
• 2011 – Rush Of Water – Book of Poetry by Chara DeWolf
• 2009 – October/November – “Quilting Arts” – Featured Artist: “Women In Prison; from Shame to Freedom”

LECTURES:
• 2022 – Longmont Quilt Guild – The Healing Art of Hand Stitching
• 2022 – Estes Park Valley Quilt Guild – The Healing Art of Hand Stitching
• 2020 – Front Range Contemporary Quilts – The Healing Art of Hand Stitch
• 2019 – Quaking Aspen Quilt Guild – The Healing Art of Hand Stitch
• 2018 – Front Range Contemporary Quilts – Dyeing To Tell A Story
• 2018 – Quaking Aspen – Dyeing to Tell A Story

PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS:
• Boulder Art League
• No-Bo Art District
• 2015-2016 – President of Front Range Contemporary Quilters
• Front Range Contemporary Quilt Guild
Board for 2013/2014 Workshops
Front Range Contemporary Quilt Guild
President 2015-2016
• Surface Design Association
• Studio Art Quilt Association

ART INSTRUCTION:
• September 2021 – Rocky Mountain Hand Weavers Guild – 3 day eco-dye art journals workshop
• September 2020 – Front Range Contemporary Quilters – 3 day eco-dye/journals workshop
• September, 2013 – Denver Art Museum On The Plaza – Eco Dyeing demos
• 2013, October – Eco Dyeing Class at Longmont Museum for FRCQ, Longmont, CO
• 2009-2014 – Teaching fabric dyeing out of The Garage
• 2010 – Dye classes at The Denver Art Student League
• 2009 – Deconstructive Silk Screen Dyeing Classes at Wild Heather’s Quilt Store, Wheatridge, CO
• 2005-2010 – Fabric dyeing and painting classes or Quaking Aspen
Quilt Guild
• 2006-2009 – Fabric Dyeing Classes – private classes in my studio
• 2005-2007 – Fabric painting classes at Prosperity Quilt Store, Boulder, CO
• 2005-2007 – Art Quilt Classes -Prosperity Quilt Store, Boulder, CO
• 2003-2004 – Private young adult painting classes
• 2002-2003 – Young Adult drawing classes
• 1997-1998 – Children’s drawing classes
• 1994-1996 – Children’s drawing classes

EXPERIENCE:
• 2010-present – Private selling of fabrics at The Garage c cc
• 2009 – Sold hand dyed fabrics at Wild Heather Quilt Store,
Wheatridge, CO
• 2005-2006 – Sold hand dyed fabrics at Prosperity Quilt Store, Boulder, CO
• 1982-1984 – Doll & children’s quilt sold at “The Barn” Arts & Craft Fair, Boulder, CO
• 1980-1984 – Doll & children’s quilt business
• 1964 – Beginning of sewing adventure

 

 

Links

Jo Fitsell: www.jofitsellcom

Barb Olson: www.barbaraolsonquiltart.com

Front Range Contempory Quilters: www.artquilters.org

Deidra Adams: www.deidreadams.com

Regina Benson: www.reginabenson.com

Patty Hawkins: www.pattyhawkins.com

Melody Randal: www.melodyquilts.com

Sara Rockinger: www.srockinger.net

Carol Watkins: www.carolwatkins.com

Carol Ann Waugh: www.carolannwaugh.com

Charlotte Ziebarth: www.charlotteziebarth.com

Rayna Gillman: www.studio78.net

Brian Zierlein: www.lightwritingphoto.com

Laura Cater Woods: www.cater-woods.com

SUPPLIERS:

Prochemical and Dye: www.prochemicalanddye.com

Dharma Trading Company: www.dharmatrading.com

Dick Blick: www.dickblick.com

Squeegees: www.texaspaint.com

Extruders: www.vista-dental.com

Screens: Xenon Products – 1-800-651-5050