Marcia Petty

I moved to New Mexico after living in San Francisco and Marin for 35 years. Dharma Trading has always been in my life, luckily for many years as the actual store, and since 2002 online. It is a great personal resource for me and for my companions in the New Mexico Silk Painters Guild (nmsilkpaintersguild.com). I began silk painting and doing shibori in the 1980's and, since moving to the Southwest, am almost exlusively engaged with dyework and surface design. I also do beadwork.

New Mexico has many artists and galleries. It is a challenging and inspiring place to work with textiles. Although I deeply miss the Bay Area (having been a docent at the Asian Art Museum and very appreciative of the textile collections at the De Young), I'm beginning to appreciate the atmosphere of the Southwest, where metro life is not as distracting. I will be co-teaching a class with Linda Walters at the SPIN (Silk Painters International) conference this summer in Santa Fe, focusing on designing garments with shibori. It's been wonderful for us "locals" having the past 3 SPIN conferences in Santa Fe. They will be sorely missed. Unlike SPIN, the Albuquerque Fiber Arts Fiesta (an impressive and fun biennial textile event for fiber addicts growing by leaps and bounds) will remain in Albuquerque. The next Fiesta will be held at the end of May in 2013. If you're in Albuquerque in August 2012, be sure to visit the New Mexico Silk Painter's Guild's Annual Silk Road Exhibit held this year at 5Gallery. Promises to be great!