Donna Ritter:  Artist Statement

I have been working with fiber since early childhood, starting with an embroidery sampler, moving onto crewel embroidery, needlepoint, knitting, and finally weaving, which also led to fashioning jewelry, basketry and now felting.  I see the world in terms of fiber, everything and everyone woven and stitched together.  My work engages with the tactile and the visual.  It is meant to be used, touched, and felt.  Color and pattern evolve as I make a piece so that each piece is unique.  Weaving also evokes movement:  the physical movement of weaving, passing the shuttle throught the threads, stepping on the treadles, the unfolding of a pattern on the loom, and the eye traveling through a piece. 

Inspiration comes to me from nature and design.  The colors, textures and forms in the natural world, particulary mountains, forests, flowers and trees, fields and rocks, and the constant movement of water inform my work through color and texture and subject matter as well.  The feeling that those elements convey to me, I strive to convey to the wearer or viewer.

The woven material above was inspired by a vintage red and white convertible.  The weave structure is "shadow weave", which imparts a sense of depth to the material, just as the juxtaposition of white against red did in the car's interior design.  It always fascinates me to see just how the use of colors juxtaposed can change perspective and evoke a feeling.  That is my passion.