Interview with Susan Nash

Karen Musgrave (KM): This is Karen Musgrave and I'm conducting a Quilters' S.O.S. - Save Our Stories interview with Susan Nash. Susan is in Zanesville, Ohio and I'm in Naperville, Illinois so we are conducting this interview over the telephone. Today's date is April 13, 2009 [April 6, 2009.]. It is now 9:14 a.m. Susan, thank you so much for taking time out of your day to do this interview with me. Please tell me about your quilt "Token of Love."

Susan Nash (SN): My quilt "Token of Love" was truly made, as a work of heart beyond being a work of art. I made it in honor of my mother who passed away in 2000. I used to teach a quilting class in Newark, Ohio, at a shop that is now closed, but people wanted to learn Crazy quilting techniques. I was trying to incorporate newer techniques beyond just the Crazy Quilt techniques, which I admire and love, but I was including and teaching in the class how to do transfers onto fabric. Taking their old photographs and doing that sort of thing using the computer. I started out by just making blocks memorializing my mother and it just grew into this larger piece. I had a picture of her at six month old, at her high school, and then later in her life, and it was a fun way to teach a lot of different techniques. My favorite thing to do, I call it "junking up quilts." It is adding all kinds of found objects that I collect and enjoy using. One of my favorite objects on this quilt is I guess you would call it a garter, the bottom of a garter off of a girdle and one of my memories with my mother is that she used to go to bridge club meetings once a month and that was a big deal because she was a stay at home mom and it was important for her to get out once in a while and she was a large woman and could not reach around and hook up her hose to her garter and it was my job. I've got one of those on the quilt. It was just in honor of my mom. When I look back, she was my biggest cheerleader. She was always encouraging me and there wasn't anything I couldn't do. I'm just really pleased to have been able to make this and share it with other people. I was honored that it was actually accepted into the Sacred Threads in 2007. I don't even remember which Sacred Threads has the different options that you can enter a quilt under joy, inspiration, spirituality, healing, grief, peace and I'm not sure which one it went under. It could have been under--I'm assuming it did "Inspiration." It could have been "Joy." Could have been any of those. It helped me grieve the loss and I enjoy looking at it every day. It hangs in my studio and reminds me of her inspiration.

KM: Did you actually go to Sacred Threads to see it?

SN: Yes, I'm fortunate enough to live just 45 minutes away from Reynoldsburg, Ohio. So, yes.

KM: Tell me about the experience.

SN: Sacred Threads is just an amazing show. I like it because each quilt hanging in the show has a description, the maker has described what they were thinking, why they made this quilt and so many times you look around and you see people having to leave because they are in tears to go and collect themselves because the stories, some of them are so deep and so touching. It is just a wonderful, wonderful venue.

KM: Tell me about the experience of writing your Artist Statement.

SN: That one was a particularly easy Artist Statement for me to write as I recall, that was two years ago, just because it was something so near to my heart. It was just very easy for me to expound on the fact that Mother was a promoter of mine. She just made me feel safe and secure and that I was an amazing person and I really miss her and I've found through time that I just always assumed everybody loves the mother and would miss them and it shocks me when I say to someone that they are so lucky to still have their mother, and they don't feel that way. For the majority, I think people do.

KM: Is this quilt typical of your style?

SN: It's not. I did a series of quilts like that and I do love. I love and admire older quilts and traditional quilts. This one is probably more traditional than what I do more recently. Even though it's in a traditional style, it is not particularly a traditional Crazy Quilt. I would say it's got a lot more, a whole different shape, a lot more things added to it like the old gloves and ink jet transfers, that sort of thing. I'm doing more nature oriented pieces now. I'm doing a ginkgo series using ginkgo leaves, but I do love to add things to my pieces. So this is indicative of that. "Token of Love" definitely reflects that.

KM: There is a lot of embellishment on this quilt.

SN: It is my favorite thing to do. I have an older friend that at lunch she suggested that you should be done, I was still putting things on a piece and she [laughs.] is amazed at how much stuff I still had yet to put on. Sometimes it is hard to know when you are finished. You just decide I guess or maybe things are never finished. I still find myself adding here and there the different pieces.

KM: Tell me about your interest in quiltmaking.

SN: It goes back a long ways. I grew up in a family where my grandmother and aunts on my father's side made quilts constantly and we slept under quilts, I was surrounded by quilts growing up and I've always appreciated them. I wasn't really, didn't enjoy sewing that much until I got into high school and figured out I could have more clothes if I sewed them myself. From that, I have a Bachelor of Science degree in Zoology from Ohio University, but I've never used it. I quickly went back to sewing and art, would have been my first love, but my father thought I should get a degree in something I could actually make money in, which kind of backfired [laughs.] because I'm fortunate enough in this day to have a studio and be working outside the home in my own studio and be a full time studio artist and have a husband who is willing to help finance me that way.

KM: You mentioned teaching, do you still teach?

SN: I haven't been recently. I open to it. I've been invited by the local quilt group to teach here and there. I enjoyed it when I was working at the quilt shop it was fun, I really enjoy teaching people new techniques and watching them get excited about.

KM: Since you mentioned your studio, describe your studio.

SN: It is a wonderful space. It is an old warehouse dating back to, the title search was back to 1878 but that's not as old as the building is. It has great old bones. It is just brick and wood and a big long open space. Windows are seven feet above our head so we actually have a loft at one end so we can look out the windows. I share it with another artist. She is a mixed media artist. We had shared a studio since I want to say 2004 in downtown Zanesville. We were fortunate at the time that we decided to have a studio outside of our home, Zanesville also decided to have an artist colony in downtown so we were fortunate to become members of that and they have sponsors for Friday Art Walks each month so we are open during the day, but we are also open every first Friday and after how many years it is starting to pick up. People are starting to realize that there are artists in downtown Zanesville, and it is exciting, very exciting. This is the place I love to be in, I have no problems spending my time here making art.

KM: What does it look like besides that, what do you have there?

SN: We are on the second floor. We have our own little section where I call my spot "My Space." I have my sewing machines and the other artist, Susan Stubbins has her space. We have our own kitchenette and bathroom and the loft has a library and computer area, office. Part of it is a gallery, actually most of it is a gallery because we have things hanging on the walls, but we bill ourselves as a studio/gallery. We do get people coming up during the week as well to check out our work. It is a very inspiring space.

KM: Tell me about sharing the space with another person.

SN: That is one of the best parts. It is so nice to have someone else. I think as an artist we actually tend to be, or maybe that is just me, we tend to be kind of loners where we can kind of seclude ourselves and become anti-social maybe even, but having another person to bounce ideas off of kinds of keeps you in the here and now maybe even. It is wonderful. We share the expenses of the building but beyond that it is a camaraderie. She inspires me. I inspire her. Good news is that she was an art teacher for 30 years, I believe, and she often has suggestions for me. I really have no art background so she will make composition suggestions or give me little ideas and I think I do the same for her. I've thrown away scraps of fabric and I've found them on her pieces later, which even in the trash she thought she could use them. We just have a really good working relationship and I think it is just a positive for both of us. In fact, I've even had other people say how lucky we are to have another person to share a space with I think for those reasons.

KM: Tell me about your creative process.

SN: My creative process. I kind of work, for a while I was worried about what I should be making and I finally decided I'm just going to make what I want to make, what comes to me instead of looking at an upcoming show and thinking 'hum I wonder what will get into that show, what could I make that would fascinate those people'. I have just started creating what comes from my heart intuitively and that seems to be the work that catches people's eyes, things that, it is hard to describe. Even last year, I just decided whatever I'm thinking about, wanting to make, if I just want to try a leaf, I'm going to do a leaf. I have a whole series of leaves that are still coming on. Of course I've always got my beads and buttons and bobbles and laces and things like that, rickrack is one of my favorites to add to the pieces. I love working in wool. Wool is so soft and it melts, the threads melt into the wool. I love adding touches of wool. I don't know, I seem to have a good flow going right now where I've got several pieces going at one time, always got something in my brain working, something on a piece of paper, a couple in process. I feel real lucky at the moment to not be puzzling too much about what it is I'm making. I've had a few commissions lately and I've been fortunate that those were commissions that I could do pretty much I wanted to within a color perimeter and maybe, for example I just did a goddess, moon goddess quilt. All I had were color perimeters and the fact that they wanted a moon goddess on it. That was fun because they didn't care what I put on it beyond that. I feel very fortunate.

KM: What advice would you offer someone starting out?

SN: For someone starting out, I feel like I'm still just starting out even though I've been doing this for over 30 years probably, but only seriously maybe in the last 10. I would say just follow your heart. Do what rings true to you, what resonates for you. Don't hold yourself up to competition. Don't think about whether or not someone else is going to like it. If you love it, again if it rings true for you then I think that's what works for me personally.

KM: Do you belong to any art or quilt groups?

SN: Yes. I belong locally to the Zanesville Appalachian Art Project, the initials are ZAAP. It is a little grassroots group here in Zanesville promoting arts and artists in the area. Also the Artist Colony of Zanesville, which I already talked about. I belong to the Studio Art Quilt Associates [SAQA.], which is an international group of studio art quilters. The Ohio Art League which is a state art group. Wow, I think that's it.

KM: Why is belonging to these groups important to you?

SN: Oh, I forgot a group, Art Quilt Network. That is an awesome group. It is another international quilt group. Belonging to these groups, I think it is important to network with other people, it is a good way to promote yourself, to get your work out there, seen by other people, but for like Art Quilt Network or SAQA there is so many opportunities for an artist to learn business aspects, to help promote yourself in that manner. I think it is important to get together with other like-minded people and find out what they are doing. Pick their brains, they pick yours. That you are normal, maybe. [laughs.] You are on the same track. They are good groups. You get back what you give too. I think the more involved you are the more you get out of it. I've always believed that.

KM: How many hours a week do you quilt?

SN: I am physically in the studio usually by 9:00 every day and stick around until 5:00. I do find myself frittering away time on the computer. I would say I try to stay focused on work so five to six hours a day, Monday through Friday. I try not to come down on the weekends to the studio, but I find myself thinking I could be working on that if I were down there.

KM: Is that a negative to having to go to work so to speak?

SN: No, I think it's a positive. That was one reason, it took a while for me to take that jump to work, go to a studio outside of my home. I had a home studio, sewing room and I always found myself finding other things to do at home, answering the phone, doing the laundry, etc. I get actually, I do better home care because when I'm home that's what I'm doing rather than being drawn to work on my art and I absolutely treat coming to the studio like a job and I don't mean that as a negative at all. I look forward to it. It's the place I want to be. Once again, I feel very fortunate that I have the space and that I'm doing what I love and that I'm able to do that.

KM: You mentioned the support of your husband. What does your family think of your quiltmaking?

SN: [laughs.] They are coming around. I think they've always thought I was a crafter. They were interested, amused, interested, but not overly respectful. I will say that the first time I sold a piece I got a lot more attention from everybody, especially my husband. When he's friends started asking me--I got a commission or two from some of his friends who are local businessmen, he was definitely more intrigued and interested. It seems a little sad that is what it takes for someone to make some money at it maybe for them to realize that I was serious. He is a total supporter now. I mean he bought the building, the warehouse building that we are in now so we moved our studio from an office building, an office space to the warehouse just in December, so I mean he is totally supportive and it's been great. There was a time when I had to tell my, I felt the need to tell my family that if someone asks, 'What your mom does for a living?' Tell them, 'She's an artist.' [laughs.] Not necessarily a 'housewife' or 'I don't know what she does.' I felt that need at one point for them to understand that was important to me even though I had to convince myself that I felt that way, but I wasn't hiding behind the mask of artist. It took a while for me to feel comfortable with that hat as well. For the most part, they are very supportive and they've really jumped on the bandwagon with me now.

KM: You call yourself an artist or do you do quiltmaker?

SN: I call myself an artist, a quilt artist, a textile artist. Yes, that is what I feel that I am. Like I said, it took some courage. I think a lot of us in this field, for me at least, it's always taken me that step to just dive in and do it. To call myself an artist and hope that my--I will say that some of my friends, quiltmaking friends, and I consider myself a quiltmaker. I'm absolutely a quiltmaker. I'm a quilt artist, but when I took the step to have my own studio outside the home and call myself an artist there was a lack of support there. I think it was just because honestly it was a change, it was something different, and they wanted me to stay the same maybe. I'm not sure, but now I don't feel that way. I think people are happy for me.

KM: What do you think is the biggest challenge confronting quiltmakers today?

SN: I'm not sure, being taken seriously. That it's not just a craft that it is art, at least in my area of quiltmaking. I feel that even in the artist community that I'm in my work has been referred to as "chick art" and I'm not offended by that, but I got the sense that I'm low. Being a textile artist or a quilt artist is low on the food chain as it were of artists, that people who do sculpture and oil painting. They hold themselves in higher esteem. I think they struggle with the fact that is it a craft or is it an art. It is coming around. I really feel quilt artists are getting more recognition from the art work, from the fine art world. Absolutely.

KM: Whose works are you drawn to and why?

SN: Oh wow, there is many people's. That is a tough question. I've always admired Susie Shie's work and it is probably because hers were so heavily embellished and I love words. I love the word on anything. So the fact that she journals on her quilts, I've always admired and appreciated that. Wow, who else? There's very many. Natasha Kemper I think is her name. I've always admired her work. I've never seen any in person but in books and magazines. Probably the people's work I admire I probably have a similar style or it's the fact that I love the embellishing so anybody who embellishes I'm probably right there looking at that.

KM: What do you think makes a quilt artistically powerful?

SN: What makes a quilt artistically powerful? [pause.] Color, I'm not sure. When I look at a piece, there is usually something that grabs me. That is tough. I'm working on trying to notice, trying to think deeper and think about when something grabs my attention specifically, what was it that grabbed my attention? Why does this piece speak to me? I don't know, for Sacred Threads that's another good point because when you go to Sacred Threads you may look at a piece, a quilt hanging there and think, 'Hum, I don't get it,' but you read the Artist Statement and oh my gosh that makes it very powerful. I wish a lot of, I wish fine art galleries hung more artist statements that describe what was going on or what the thought process was when creating that piece because maybe it's because I don't have any art training but I can look at some pieces and think, 'I don't get it.' A lot of artists feel that their work should speak for itself, stand on its own and that's all fine and good, but sometimes just having that Artist Statement there that description really nails it. I'm working hard to realize what it is that draws me to things, to art work so that I can internalize that and work with it maybe.

KM: What made you decide to enter the quilt into Sacred Threads?

SN: The first time I went to a Sacred Threads show I was just blown away by the impact that show has. I think that show should be recognized on a national/international level because it is such a deep thoughtful show and I just wanted to be a part of it. Every year I'm working, thinking in the back of my mind, that I hope to get a piece in that show, at least one piece each time. I feel it is a wonderful important show and because of what it speaks to. The experience of women or men but what kind of passion and heart they put into their work it really comes through and sings in this show. I am always honored to be a part of the show when I've been accepted, when my work has been accepted. I would go even if I haven't, I've been fortunate enough to be accepted each year that I've attempted, but I would go no matter what and I am a great promoter, I tell everyone that they need to get to this show because it is a wonderful show for people who perhaps aren't even interested in quilt art. It is a very inspiring, very inspiring show.

KM: What is your piece that you have in for this year?

SN: I have a piece called "Frozen in Time" and it is a small piece. I entered it under either Healing or Grief. It is funny how I'm never quite sure which I go with. The statement with it was about how our son has a drug addiction problem, he is 24 and how your life can become sort of frozen in time with worry and fear for someone that you love. I can barely even talk about it right now. It is very sad to have someone with a problem like that. You can only do so much and then it is out of your control and you just feel frozen. You are paralyzed because you can't do anything to fix the problem, that person has to fix the problem and it is just a very, very difficult journey and it will be a lifetime journey for him and I hope and pray that he makes it.

KM: You said it was a small piece. "Token of Love" is 46 [inches.] by 32 inches, is that a typical size for you?

SN: That is more typical, yes. Currently I am working smaller. I've discovered that, in fact, I have a lot of small pieces that I'm framing. I still consider them quilts because they are three layers but people, to sell my work people are way more accepting of things that look like they are supposed to hang on the wall whereas I think that would be another answer to problems that quilt artists face today is getting people to understand that piece can hang on the wall, it doesn't have to go on a bed. Yes, I'm working smaller. "Token of Love" is one of my larger pieces currently.

KM: In what ways do you think your quilts reflect your community and region? I mean Ohio has always been known for art quilts.

SN: Right. Maybe because I actually grew up in Athens [Ohio.] and was able to go to Quilt National whenever it was in town and even at that time I was still making traditional quilts but I knew some day I was taking that step. There is that courage thing again, I just had to work up enough courage to step off that edge and try something different. Yes, there is a lot of exposures to art quilts in Ohio. I'm living in Appalachia, and Muskingum County is an Appalachian County and we used to have a show at the local college called "Women of Appalachia." I would put art quilts into those shows and that would be surprising to a lot of people that they are still thinking quilts belong on beds. So there is in my region of Ohio between, 'What is art and what isn't?'

KM: How were your quilts received in the "Women of Appalachia" exhibit?

SN: It is hard to tell. I actually won some awards so obviously the juror appreciated the work because they want traditional quilts but it is also an art show. That is what is interesting. Some of my pieces have won awards in local art shows which that means a lot to me in that they've accepted this as art in a region where most quilts are the traditional quilts, bed quilts. That was exciting.

KM: Is there a particular style of traditional quilts in your region?

SN: No, I don't think there is anything, no particular style- just your traditional Log Cabin, Dresden Plate, a lot of piecing. Yes, probably more piecing than appliqu.

KM: How do you want to be remembered?

SN: That is funny because I think intuitively when we make quilts it is like a way of showing, having something to show for what you've done for your days. Sort of just cleaning, dusting, cooking, you actually have something for the world to see, or something to be remembered by. I don't have anything in particular that I would like, anyway that I would like to be remembered other than hopefully a good person, a nice person. [laughs.] No, I haven't really thought about that.

KM: You mentioned photo transfer and using that in your work. What advances in technology has influenced your work?

SN: The computer and the printer. I very much enjoy using the transfer techniques, like using my mother's photographs and put it into fabric. Even in "Token of Love," I took an old postcard and scanned it and transferred it to fabric. So one of the gloves is holding an old postcard that says "A Token of Love." That is where I got the name. I have another piece that I have only three recipe cards that had my mother's handwriting on them so I actually transferred those cards to fabric and that is one of my favorite pieces. I have her handwriting in fabric now and I made it look like three recipe cards and then I went to the antique stores here in town and looked for utensils that used to hang, that used to be in our drawer at home in the kitchen and then I found an old tea towel. I didn't want to use one of my mom's but I've got an old tea towel so I matted these on an old tea towel and I actually foun the little tin measuring spoons and the little basting brush and a little potato peeler. They all three look exactly like they could have come right from my mother's kitchen drawer so I sewed those down to the quilt. I still combine new methods with old methods, but the computer would probably be the most advanced technology that I incorporate into my work, otherwise I still love hand work. I use the sewing machine more than I used to as far as finishing my pieces with machine quilting, but I don't have an embroidery machine or anything like that. Not much do I use technology.

KM: Do you find it easy to come up with titles for your quilts?

SN: Not always, not always. Sometimes when I'm working on a piece you just, you immediately know what the title is just because it fits in with what you are thinking but I do sometimes struggle with titles. It is like I'm still making something because I want to add something to it, like leaves I'm thinking, 'How can I add buttons and beads to these?' I'm not necessarily thinking, 'What will I call this when I'm finished with it?'

KM: You talk about doing series. Do you generally do a series and why is doing a series important?

SN: The series that has just come up in the last few years I have found myself with ink jet transfers for example, like in a whole series of those because I just kept playing with it and finding other ways to use, other images to transfer. I transferred. I took live oak leaves and scanned them and then I applied them 3-D to another piece so that they actually look like oak leaves all over this quilt. I think it is important to do series just because you keep working, for me I'm working through ideas and thinking, 'Hum, I wish I had done this.' Well, go ahead and do it. Try it in the next piece. The Crazy Quilts was a series. I keep coming back to those because I'm doing more collage work with old antique things rather than the crazy piecing, but I kind of have those two series. Like if I'm not working on one, I'm working on another. I go back and forth between them. For example, the Ginkgo series I'm working on I've just been doing them in greens, but now I'm thinking, 'What would happen if I started using different colors instead of them looking natural, try different colors, try different fabrics?' So it is just a way of working to keep pushing myself a little bit and go deeper. I'm trying to figure out what does ginkgo mean to me. Why am I doing ginkgos leaves? I think that is part of the series is going deeper.

KM: Is there anything that you would like to share that we haven't touched upon before we conclude?

SN: No I'm just very humbled to be asked to be interviewed. It is wonderful to be able to share my thoughts and work and I really appreciate it. Thank you for the job you are doing.

KM: Thank you. You are more than welcome. Let's see if there is anything else that I would like to ask you. You talk about embellishment, what is your favorite embellishing thing [SN laughs.] I noticed that in "Token of Love" there is a lot of buttons.

SN: Buttons and beads.

KM: Buttons and beads?

SN: Those are my favorites. I'm leaning towards keys too. I haven't used a lot of them yet but I'm collecting them. I have little collections. Just like the kitchen utensils, I've found some really cool kitchen utensils and I'm trying to think, 'How can I work those into something some day?' But I always come back to buttons, beads, rickrack. I love rickrack and laces. If something requires--some pieces don't, you can't put lace on it, it just wouldn't look right. That might be part of my series is pushing that to see how can I fit lace into this. Who knows?

KM: Do you shop often? Are you out looking for things?

SN: No, but you know what now that you say that one of my absolute favorite things to use are found objects and you can't go looking for found objects, you just have to stumble over them. That is the thing about a found object, I've got a whole collection of stuff that I have found on the street that I can't wait to use, just like from old rusted things, springs and bottle caps. As far as shopping, no I don't, I should use what I have. I've probably done my fair share of shopping in the past and now it's time to start using it up.

KM: How do you store all of your found objects?

SN: I have a lot of, like buttons are in tons of different jars, different sizes of jars. The found objects--I have little boxes, little like Altoid Mint boxes. That is what I have my found objects, that little collection, is in. Also when we go on trips, different places I bring things back from when we were in Portland, Maine, for example, the rocks and the shells there are so different from what they are in North Carolina. I just have little collections all over the place that some day I will use, but I just have plastic bins with drawers in them that I store stuff in. That is fun when you go to clean you always find all those things that you are reminded that you want to use.

KM: I want to thank you for taking time out of your day and sharing with me.

SN: Thank you, it's been fun.

KM: Good, so we are going to conclude our interview at 9:59.