Artist's Statement

Art that Preserves the Beauty of the Ordinary: My artwork preserves the essence of my summer garden on fabric and paper to celebrate the everyday beauty of nature in the Kansas landscape. I use a wildlife camera to photograph the birds and animals that visit my garden, and I use those photos as a reference to stitch the creature using thread and my own guiding hands, much like a painter uses a brush and paint. You might say my sewing machine is my brush and thread is my paint. Just as each animal is different, each of my art pieces is unique because it is totally hand done.

Artist's Background

Fiber artist Shawn Marie Delker learned the joy of sewing on her mom’s knee at the age of five and has been stitching ever since. She began quilting in 2000, and soon discovered art quilting. Shawn’s current work combines botanical printing and thread painted wildlife that live in her Kansas garden.

Three of her quilts have been juried into galleries from Omaha to Albuquerque, she exhibits at regional art galleries, and she teaches at area galleries and the Salina Art Center. She received the third-place prize in the medium size art quilt category at the 2017 Fiber Arts Fiesta in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Her experiences include being featured as the Artist in Residence at the Red Barn Studio in Lindsborg in 2016 and 2019. She is most proud of her acceptance and popularity as a demonstration artist at the Smoky Hill River Festival in Salina since 2016, and her move to the Fine Arts area for that event in 2022.

More information is available at ShawnDelker.art.