Which Came First the Chickering or the Egg

 

Plan to join us at Black Market Gourmet 495 Central Ave., Coos Bay Oregon on Sunday March 19, 2-4 p.m. for an art reception featuring the work of Fiber Artist Theresa Richards Chickering.  Meet the artist, enjoy a wonderful collection of her works, complimentary noshies and a no host bar.   This show will be available for viewing through the end of April.  If you are unable to attend please e-mail: thebmg@msn.com or call: 541.269.0194

Artist Statement:

Theresa Richards Chickering is a traditional quilter and artist who now creates original quilts using her own designs. Chickering has been a pivotal figure in her community for over 25 years as both an artist and a teacher. Today in her personal work, she has become known for her landscape quilts—and in more recent years—for her abstract quilt designs in the vein of today’s modern quilt movement. Chickering was born in Aberdeen, Maryland and reared in the very small town of Alpine, Oregon. Her mother sewed but did not quilt, though there were family quilts in the home that that had been passed through the family from as far back as Chickering’s great grandparents. Her mother enrolled her daughters in sewing 4H programs (4H is a US-based network of youth organizations). Chickering also took home economics classes in high school. Her father was a mechanic, welder, and inventor who, at one point, designed and built his own self-loading log truck. Chickering inherited her father’s gift for solving design problems in her head; for her, this has resulted in intricately pieced quilt tops. Although Chickering had tried quilting by cutting out a Sunbonnet Sue pattern when she was 15 years old, she didn’t finish it. A decade later, her interest in quilting blossomed when she met Ann Smith, a quilter with years of experience. In time. the two opened a quilt shop in Reedsport where they offered beginning classes. They also helped found Coast Quilters, the local quilt guild now 30+ years running. Theresa Chickering’s at-home quilting studio occupies a good portion of the second floor of her house, which sits high atop the ridge line overlooking Reedsport. Although she started out on her home sewing machine, she has come to prefer the precision of her commercial quilting machine. Chickering has had many entries, and has received several awards, in the Coos Bay and Florence quilt shows and EE Schenk’s challenge. She has twice entered the Hoffman Challenge. Both times she has been selected for Hoffman’s national traveling show. As for mentors, “Tamara and Tara [Szalewski] at Mindpower Gallery have definitely helped Chickering bridge the gap between craft and art by displaying her art quilts at their local gallery. Summing up her avocation for quilting, Theresa Chickering says, "I really feel blessed, really lucky that all the pieces fell into place like they were supposed to and I found a medium I love. I don’t think I’ll ever tire of working with fabric

Kristin Hoefer

Chef Jardin Kazaar, RN

Black Market Gourmet

495 Central Avenue

Coos Bay, Oregon 

541.269.0194