Artists Statement
In my fiber art, I try to create moods with color and texture that soothes or stimulates. To quote Iris Apfel, “Color can raise the dead!”. Recently, my focus has been exploring diverse techniques to create texture, from manipulating fabric to couching yarns on the surface. The garments I create are designed to provide comfort and create visual statements. Life is too short to wear boring clothes! It pleases me when my wearable art elicits conversations and interactions I would not likely have otherwise engaged in. I am highly influenced by the beauty of the local flora and fauna and I try to incorporate natural themes into my work.
Throughout most of my life the need to create has been just as strong as the need to eat and breathe. When bringing projects to life, as decisions and obstacles appear, the brain is ready with ideas and alternatives. The entire creative process is intriguing to me. When events occur that can be interpreted as mistakes, the solutions appear and are often better than the original plan."
Bio
Mary grew up in a home where her mother and grandmother both sewed. Her mother also knitted and crocheted. So playing with fabric began at an early age for her. Throughout her childhood and adolescence, she was always creating something. After a career as a speech therapist and learning consultant, she retired to pursue her dream job of creating art full time. When she's not sewing, she's dyeing fabric, creating her own fabric, or working in mixed media. She finds creating a mood through combined texture and color extremely addicting and therapeutic. She uses the ocean as a recurring theme in her work, as she finds its impact on every sense to be simultaneously evoking feelings of tranquility and exhilaration.
Her work has been juried into national shows and her wearable art jackets have won awards and toured the country.
CV/Resume
Mary Schwarzenberger Milford, NJ
Juried Shows
2017 Art All Day, Trenton NJ
2017 The Hunterdon Art Tour - Milford NJ
2017 Repair and Connect: Rejuvenating Work in Fiber, Hopewell NJ art show
2017 Gems of the Ocean, Yachats, OR
2016 The Gallery at Penn College, Williamsport, PA
2016 SewBatik Fashion Challenge - Oaks, PA
2016 Waterworks - The Gallery at Lower Bucks County Community College
2016 Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival Wearable Art Competition
2015 Pennsylvania National Quilt Extravaganza XXII - September 2015
2015 Weather at Nurture Nature Center - Easton PA
2015 Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival Wearable Art Competition
2015 Artsbridge Member Show - Stockton NJ
2014 Hoffman Challenge Trunk Show
2014 Quiltfest Destination Savanna
2014 Mid Atlantic Quilt Show, Hampton VA
2013 Mid Atlantic Quilt Show, Hampton VA
2012 Vanity Fare: Art Inspired by Fashion, Goggleworks Reading PA
2012 Hoffman Challenge Trunk Show
2012 Mid Atlantic Quilt Show, Hampton VA
2011 World Quilt Show, Manchester NH
2011 Hoffman Challenge Trunk Show
2011 Size Matters - something's looming gallery, Reading PA
2011 The Quilt Fest of New Jersey VII Tri-State Quilt Competition
2011 Felt So Good - some things looming, Reading PA
2011 Handmade Holidays - some things looming, Reading PA
2010 Second Skin Style and Textiles - New Hope Arts Center, New Hope PA
2010 Hoffman Challenge Trunk Show
2009 Pacific International Quilt Festival XVIII - October 2009
2009 Pennsylvania National Quilt Extravaganza XIV - September 2007
2009 Denver National Quilt Festival IV - April 2009
2008 International Quilt Festival Journal Quilt Project II -Elements: Earth, Water and Fire
2007 International Quilt Festival Journal Quilt Project - Page from my Journal Book
2007 Pennsylvania National Quilt Extravaganza XIV - September 2007.
2007 Hoffman Challenge Trunk Show
Awards
2016 Quilters Treasure - Best Wearable
2015 Quilters Treasure - Best Wearable
2014 Quilter's Treasure: Soaring to New Heights in Quilting
Honorable Mention
2013 Quilter's Treasure: Soaring to New Heights in Quilting
Best Wearable
2013 Keystone Quilters - Third Place, Art Quilt and Wearable Categories
2012 Quilter's Treasure: Soaring to New Heights in Quilting
Honorable Mention
2011 The Quilt Fest of New Jersey VII Tri-State Quilt Competition
Best Use of Embellishments.
2011 Quilter's Treasure: Soaring to New Heights in Quilting