Twelve by Twelve Art Quilter :: Terry Grant

:: Terry Grant ::

Jumped
I remember one of the other Twelves said that when she was first asked to join the group she almost said "no." Not me. I jumped at the chance. Not because I thought it would ever lead to all the amazing things it has, including a book, but because I am fascinated with the process of creativity and how it manifests itself so differently in different people. A challenge is always a study in how people take a beginning idea and then fly off in as many directions as there are participants. I always want to know how people get from A to Z.

A to Z
My own journey from A to Z has been a circuitous and branching path. I have always loved to draw and paint. I have always loved to sew. I have been a painter and a printmaker and a weaver and prodigious crafter forever. I got a degree in art and taught. I sewed clothes and dolls and curtains and eventually quilts. I screen printed and made batiks. Then after far too many years it finally occurred to me that all these things could work together with my love of sewing and I became an art quilter. I have never looked back.

I continued making other work all the while we have been making our Twelve by Twelve challenges and I have loved the focus of the challenges that took me to places I would not have gone on my own and let me in on eleven other creative minds at work on the same challenge. Some might view such a project as a "game" or merely entertaining, but for me it has been a hugely creative and instructive exercise, which has resulted in new directions for my work. It is not an exaggeration to say my life has been changed by the Twelve by Twelve project.

The 12x12 International Art Quilt Challenge can be viewed at www.twelveby12.org.

See more of Terry's work at http://andsewitgoes.blogspot.com.