Work Away From Work

I am always impressed by the inspirational creative work Designers make when they are not working the grueling hours our industry often requires. From time to time in “Patterns” we will take a look at such Designers – Artists – and their work away from work.

Just such a Designer is Heather Macali. Heather creates frame able fiber art, floor coverings, home accessories and other colorful abstract weavings. In fact — and to alluring effect – she creates entire walls of undulating, saturated, intricate woven color. She works from deep with in her imagination and weaves abstract, distorted, psychedelic art.

Smartly, Heather shows her current work on her website; all cleverly titled, noting the scale, detail images and prices. But best of all, she shows us her journey as an artist.

For example, in “Portfolios of the Past” she drew me into her 2009 Masters Thesis project for which she created these walls of color that, now that I have seen them, I can not get out of my mind.

Her statement and personal comments make me feel as though I know her. Like Heather, what textile designer has not fallen in love with spools of thread for their colors, their shapes and the patterns they create in the store or in our own craft drawers? But it was what she makes with them as a Master Textile Artist on her TC-1 that astounds me.

Heather Macali’s Bachelor of Arts in Craft is from Kent State and her MFA in Textiles is from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Take a look and see how her Work Away From Work affects you: www.heathermacali.com