Lori Nelson

Fiber Artist

Lori fell in love with art quilts in the mid 90s when a patient of hers shared a book “Art and Inspiration” by Ruth McDowell. A sewist since childhood she had made a few simple quilts using scissors and templates in the early eighties but put all those dangerous tools away when her kids reached the curious age and began helping!  But what a change she saw in those new art quilts. They had flown off the bed and onto the wall. She collected quilt art books for a year or 2 and thought that that was her passion. One day, while kids were off doing teen things, she brought out her sewing machine and started an art quilt breaking all the rules (since she didn’t even know them) and had a glorious time. What a unique experience to take a vision and interpret it in cloth.

Over a few years, learning techniques from many books, magazines, classes and workshops in fiber art as well as painting, she became proficient in her craft making both art and more traditional original quilts, teaching at both Merced Multicultural Art Center and Merced Community College. She enjoys taking classes in other mediums with a view to incorporate what she learns into the fiber art medium. Along the way she , joined Merced Gateway Quilters’ Guild and Arbor Gallery. She continues to do studio work and commissions as well as participating in charity quilting through the Guild. She has worked as a family doctor in Merced since 1979 and is mostly retired. 

She says “I love that quilting builds on the practical art and economy of the ordinary that becomes the extraordinary. All cultures have some sort of art. I believe that “art is part of who we art” that art, science, and religion all come from our inherently and uniquely human need for understanding and interpreting life and the natural world, and our desire to participate in it in a special communion. For me this is quilting. I feel so fortunate to be able to have such a tactile experience with my medium. There is a sculptural aspect to cloth and stitch which I enjoy along with the visual design. I particularly enjoy interpreting landscapes and seascapes, often fantasy views in wall quilts. I continue to be enchanted by cloth and learn something new from each new piece.”