"This world we live in has become fast-paced and over-stimulated with commercialism. We have so many varieties and choices in everything; it has made our society very complicated. Progress has striven to make life easier and faster, but it is really only more difficult. People must keep up with the fast pace of our society if they want to achieve success.  We have to work harder to pay the bills that society has forced upon us. Stress levels have gone up, bringing with it disease and discomfort. We are creating a downward path of commercial living and waste that could result in our society’s incapability of moving forward. At the rate we are going, we will eventually live in our own trash. rnI am not interested in this fast pace of living. For me there is a yearning for a simpler life. I want a slower pace, and a calmer existence. Success to me probably has a different meaning than to most people. For me it is being authentic to myself and living with minimal stress. I want to live with less emphasis on materialism, create a safe, loving, happy environment and share it with people who are like-minded. My process of working is traditionally considered women’s work. The women in my family have a history of sewing and quilting, and I feel connected to them by using this slow medium as my form of expression. I also incorporate old linens and fabric in my work; another sense of recycling history and remembering a life before heightened commercialism. Since my family came from a class of society that did not waste, they made clothes and quilts to keep the family clothed and warm. Even though I am not making items that are useful in a utilitarian way as my family did, I hope that my art will become useful in a way that will encourage people to remember a simpler way of living.”