Circles of Ten Artist’s Statement

• Circles of Ten Artwork

• Peonies and Pentagons one minute of this video (3:33 - 4:44) talks about pentagons and circles of ten.

This series featuring texture, transparency and pentagons stitched into circles of ten was a prelude to the Thangka series. Simply, I delight in making and looking at . . .

the shapes, textures, contrasting threads, radial symmetry, and jellyfish-like transparency. And, my internal geometry geek likes the idea of making something round from straight edges.

I use English paper piecing . . .

a traditional patchwork technique wherein fabric is wrapped over paper shapes and held in place with hand stitches to create fabric pentagons.

Ten pentagons are hand-stitched together to form a circle.

Sometimes I make fussy cuts from my custom-printed peony fabrics. Other times, I choose transparent fabrics such as silk organza or recycled teabags to emphasize the hand stitches and fabric layers.