Friday, May 7, 2010

Meet Mary Ellen Sakai!

It was such a treat to meet Mary Ellen. Her work is beautiful and her energy is high, and she is fun to be around. A great combination and I know you'll be hearing more from and about her.
In her own words:
Hi! my name is Mary Ellen Sakai and I live in Monrovia, Ca. with my wonderful husband Gary and our two children: Stryder the English bulldog and Suki the tabby cat.

I grew up doing sewing and art my whole life, and I started being a serious quilt maker in 1993 after a brief career in Advertising Design in New York City.
I started as a traditional quilter and my first quilt was pieced by hand after a class at The Newark Art Mus
eum.

I enjoy machine applique, machine piecing and love to machine quilt. My first teaching gig was a patchwork jumper that I had whipped up over the weekend from the first line of Debbie Mumm fabric. I taught that at Bearly Stitchin' Sewing Center in Pasadena, CA and I found out that I love teaching, so I continue doing just that in several quilt stores in Southern California on an on-going basis.

Lately, I have become interested in multi-media, fabric manipulation and embellishment. I have tried bleach discharge, Angelina fibers, blue glue resist, gelatin monoprinting, Shiva paintskiks, air dry clay, photo transfers in a number of ways and many other forms of embellishments. I call myself the 'happy idiot' quilter. I
will try anything and just about everything I find to add to my art work.

I hope to spend more time in the future on art quilts. Selling my work and being in a gallery are my dreams and my goals. I do not have a website, but feel free to contact me and become a friend on Facebook! Or join me...I'd love to hear from you and have you in a class!






1 comment:

Susan said...

Hello Mary Ellen! Your work is BEAUTIFUL! Love the flowers.