Inspired by: Susan Fecho (Fiber artist & Printmaker)

Susan Fecho is a prominant and award winning artist from Eastern North Carolina. She works mainly with fiber and printmaking to produce beautifully creative pieces that often tell a story and reveal mutiple layers of material and meaning. In this months 'Inspired By' I will be interviewing Susan and finding out more about her inspiration, work, studio space and life as an artist.

So Susan, Can you tell us about your background and the work that you create?I am a fiber artist and printmaker. As a product of the Appalachian hills of Virginia, fiber arts were part of my upbringing. Silk screening, printing and stenciling are used in both fibers and paperarts. Mixed media works that incorporate "all of the above" tends to interest me since I can pull together bits and pieces into a "true Appalachian" story narrative. If you give me a scrap, I'll spin a tale.What inspires you? Nature inspires my imagery and icongraphy. I enjoy "walkabouts", and when possible I began the work on location. Within the walk, I search for artifacts (some would call this trash) left by humans within the landscape for inclusion into the collage. My themes are based on location; thus recorded in a sketchbook, by rubbing produced on-site, photographed and/or with written observations. These observations record the weather and environment as a point of departure for the narrative.Do you work as full time artist and if so, how did you get to where you are now?I work as a freelance artist and graphic designer, but my mainstay is as an educator teaching art. That means I have two jobs. I enjoy the academic life as a professor for you are expected to be productive, thus it supports my passion to be a practicing artist. I would describe myself as a permanent student...taking classes regularly to continuing honing my craft (mixed media artists tend to "collect" techniques and processes). I quite enjoy sharing my knowledge with other artists.And finally, What is your studio like and how much time do you spend a day working?I have two studios… one close to work with high visibility within the community, and one at home. I live in a rambling older home that was purchased with the intent to change the front living room in to a studio. My printing press sits in front of the formal fireplace and worktables, converted warerobes, and large storage doors crowd the space. I work about 30 hours a week on my art on average.I'd like to express my thanks to Susan for sharing her beautiful work with me and taking time out of her busy schedule to answer my questions. For more information and images see Susan's lovely website: www.fecho.org