Creating connections is about getting away from the daily routines and experiencing the world around me. It may mean taking a trip away, or it may just be a walk or grabbing a coffee in my local area, or it may be allowing myself to feel and process what is going on around me.

When I experience that “something”, I use photography to capture a reference image. These experiences tend to percolate in my mind until an idea forms into a design. I get to a point where I need to get that design on paper and bring the design to fruition in fabric. I love this process of creating – the color, the exploration, the problem solving – driving the deepening connection to the idea (inspiration) until a quilt is made.

About the Artist

Michelle Wilkie is a self-taught textile artist and designer of modern quilts. Quilting is a passion, driving her creativity. She works to have her quilts seen not just as quilts but as art. She experiments with a variety of modern techniques and aesthetics, though embraces Improvisation and Minimalist styles. 

This year Michelle is currently participating and exhibiting as a community artist at the North Carolina Museum of Art (NCMA). Michelle has completed an artist in residence at Durham Art Guild and Penland School of Craft. She exhibited at Page-Walker Center in a solo exhibition “Eyes Wide Open”, and exhibited at CAM Raleigh, Truist Gallery, 311 Gallery and ArtSpace NC and curated international shows in France and Italy. She regularly has work juried into International Quilt Exhibitions and has been featured in several magazines and has work published in the book Modern Quilts: Design of the New Century.

Curated by Michelle Wilkie and Dara Baldwin

Presented by the Durham Art Guild