Renée Fleuranges-Valdes

It has taken me awhile to attach the word 'artist' to my name.  I have played with so many art forms over the years, experimenting, and finding my voice. But over the last 20 years, quilting has become my PASSION!  I am known for the bright colored fabric and use them to bring joy and movement to my work.  I LOVE the process of creating texture via intricate machine quilting, resulting in a piece that draws you in, to get a closer look.  One of my trademarks is the use of crystals, yarns, ribbons and other tidbits to enhance the visual impact to my work. 

 

I think quilting allows me to express a part of me that has been tucked away for so many years, as I focused on my career, being a wife and a mother.  How freeing is it to sit down and create whatever your heart tells you to make.  Who cares how 'good' it is, as long as it makes you happy?  One of the things I learned early on, was that I could define what a 'quilt' was to me.  I didn't have to follow a pattern, I didn't have to get permission to use the colors I liked, I didn't even have to quilt about something I knew or did.  I was allowed to just create what I wanted.  I think if we allowed children this type of creative freedom early on, we would have a lot more open minded adults in this world.  As it turned out, this freedom opened up another part of me.  I have always been social in nature, but through my quilting I became more so and this has expanded the subjects I explore through my art.  It really is amazing where something as innocent as fabric and thread can take you.
 

Affiliations:  Pelham Quilters; Northern Star Quilt Guild; FiberArts North East (FANE); Studio Art Quilting Association (SAQA); EPIC Colorful Stitchers and The Return of the Bees Quilting Collective.