I have started making some abstract works made entirely in Photoshop. These are printed on my 44" Epson printer onto the fabric and are sometimes quilted, and some times gallery-wrapped over a deep edge canvas/ I find these are fun to do and always help me learn more about the principles of design. I continue to draw and am working on a series of Wild Women of the West.
My way of dealing with the stress is to laugh and poke fun at life’s struggles. Laughter is a way of conquering the things life throws at us. In 2009, Hurricane Ike destroyed my studio, leaving five feet of water in my house. The Houston Center for Contemporary Craft offered me an emergency Artist in Residence for October 2009 through September 2010, so that I could keep working, and I received a relief grant from the Texas Commission on the Arts in 2011.
During that time, renovations dragged along on the house, so we bought a studio space in the Heights [area of Houston] for me to work in. Within a month or two, my husband, son, and I all moved into the tiny space. Renovations to the property, which had formerly been an artist studio, began in earnest.
In 2011, after my artist in residence, I had no place for a quilting machine or big printer, so I took a break from quilting to marry off my son in 2011 and my daughter in 2012. We bought the house next to the studio and renovated it, moving in last August. In September 2013, I finally had a quilting and printing studio again and was off and quilting! We dealt with the upheaval that the hurricane brought with lots of humor and love. It got us through the hard times, along with the help of friends. This humor and love is reflected in my work. My dragons don’t breathe fire; they play with butterflies. Our pets also helped us get through the hard times and some of the quilts show the pets’ antics.
In 2015 I have turned to pure whimsy. For years, I struggled with the advice of a male teacher who advised sternly to “never do cute,” while dishing the work of several of my favorite quilt artists. Now, I am finally ready to just be myself: whimsical, ironical, and funny.
Kim Ritter Gallery Houston address and phone