Everything you could possibly want to know about Cheryl.........
Born
and raised in Brockville, I am a graduate of Brockville Collegiate. I hold a
BA in French language and literature
from the University of Ottawa . The following year I studied Craft and Design
at St. Lawrence College in Brockville, Ontario.
My
journey has taken me through many art forms over the years…. not always in a
straight line….but on a more rambling and exciting exploration of the media
that call to me. In the early 80’s, I concentrated on fine art. My pencil
drawings have been shown in galleries in Kingston, Brockville, Cornwall and
Ottawa, Ontario. I look at this now as a time of honing my drawing skills
and these are skills I use today in everything I do.
As
well, from an early age, I’ve been interested in sewing and the needle arts. In
the mid-80’s I studied clothing design and construction (including tailoring)
and quilting. However, my main interest with textiles is as an artistic
medium. I do picture appliqué and my piece entitled "With Joy"
was juried into the Canadian Contemporary Quilt Show at St. Catharines, Ontario
in 1992. Two pieces were recently juried into the Grand National Quilt Show in
Stratford, Ontario. My recent appliqué work involves adding detail with hand
and machine embroidery.
In
the early 90’s I began my own home-based business designing and producing
patterns for quilted clothing. This gave me an opportunity to combine my
own drawings (instructional) with my pattern how-to text. Some of these
designs are still available today through my blog. Pattern production led me to
experiment with desk-top publishing and book-binding (one of a kind art
books). Along the way I discovered I really have a passion for
translating text into visual image.
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The
latter part of the 90’s, found me concentrating on illustration and I had
several illustrations published in various magazines. During 1997, I had many
editorial cartoons published in the Brockville Recorder and Times
newspaper and one published in the Beacon-Herald of Stratford, Ontario.
I enjoyed my association with the (then-still-independently-owned) Recorder
and Times very much. From 1997 until 2002, I worked with some of the
earliest e-publishing houses in Canada and Australia (who were way ahead of
their time). Two of the highlights for me were illustrating books written
by Gillian Richardson (Oliver Buggins, Investigator?) and Anne Cameron (Jen’s
Magical Kelpie).
I’ve
done free-lance illustration for individual authors and even illustrated a
series of phonetics texts for the US educational publishing company, Sopris
West.
In 2011 Fun With Books published Norman's Blankie, my children's picture book.
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Coco's Cap Pattern |
The internet has offered new opportunities for me as an
artist, a student and a writer. I’ve maintained a blog for a few years now,
mostly just as a place to share photos but last year I developed a knitting
pattern (Coco’s Cap) as part of a charitable project to provide preemie hats to
hospital neo-natal units. I needed a place to host the pattern so I began to
get a little more serious about the blog and Grandma Coco’s Designs
was born.
My blog is a place for all my interests…quilting, knitting,
drawing, embroidery, beading….. and it has ignited my interest in writing. In 2011, I’ve had 2 illustrated poems published in the new online children’s
magazine Underneath the Juniper Tree.
Cassie says "It's all about YOU, isn't it?" |
Grandma Coco is my alter ego. She writes the blog with me.
She’s the brave one, the smart aleck, the one who doesn’t mind being out there
interacting with the world, fearlessly stating her opinions. And I’m the one
hanging back in the shadows who makes the quilts and the drawings and the
patterns. Together we live in the
Kingdom of Coco….. a fabulous place run by Grandma Coco herself, where “Every
day, we get up and play!”
Not a bad motto for any creative life.
Hi Cheryl
ReplyDeleteThis was the first time I saw your Bio tab and I'm so glad I clicked on it. Wow, I was already impressed with all your talents, but now I'm just blown away!! So happy to have met you through the Maple Leaf Quilt Guild and to be able to keep up with you here in the Kingdom ;).
Stay inspired!
Michelle
Brain Angles - Invisible Ink
I came here because you left a lovely comment on my blog. I'm so glad you did otherwise I may have never found you. I am in awe of your vast array of talents! You are a beautiful quilter and quilt pattern designer, illustrator, author, knitter and now cookie decorator! WOW! I live in Perth, ON so that makes us practically neighbours! Thank you for visiting my blog and for taking the time to leave your comment. I'm glad we *met* and I look forward to your future posts.
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