Transitioning from the engineering workforce to creative arts was a smoother journey than expected for a trailblazing Nedlands artist.
Award-winning quilter Susan Sheath will present her first solo exhibition Pieces at Tresillian Arts Centre, which plans to reinvent the quilting wheel and showcase them as art rather than bedspreads.
“It’s not what most people would consider as traditional quilts. They’re bold contemporary designs, and a lot of them are designed as art for the wall,” she said.
“I’ve always liked bold fabric and I got a bit fed up with traditional quilting. When I first retired, I felt my hobby shouldn’t be a drain on the family resources. I used to make quilts to commission, and I got fed up with doing all this traditional stuff.
“I’m perfectly capable of making traditional quilts, it’s just not what I choose to work on these days. I have fun at this.”
Sheath has been quilting for 50 years, but said her creative passion was reignited after she retired from her engineering career.
“I had a professional career as an engineer in the oil and gas industry and didn’t get round to doing much quilting before I retired. Once I retired, I really got into it,” she said.
Pieces is a display of the work Sheath has produced in recent years, with some works seven-foot-square, and all designed to be framed and hung on the wall like paintings.
After studying under American contemporary quilter Nancy Crow for the past four years, Sheath said it inspired her to push out of the traditional quilting box.
Her quilts are often displayed in local art shows, and she said audiences are often surprised to see hanging quilts.
“They stand out. People sort of look at me like ‘gosh, that’s not a picture’, so one of my real things is to show people that you can put quilts as art in a gallery setting,” she said.
“I want the actual, general public to see the art of quilting. People see them as quilts, whereas I want to get them seen as art, which is slightly different.”
As well as exhibiting in juried exhibitions and shows across the country, Sheath has been a member of WA Quilters for more than 25 years, teaching beginner classes and helping to introduce contemporary quilt art to audiences beyond Perth.
All quilts exhibited at Pieces will be available for purchase, but Sheath knows her worth when selling her quilts.
“I won’t give my quilts away ... I gave up making quilts to commission because no one was prepared to pay me even half the minimum wage to make them,” she said.
“It takes a long time to make a quilt. It’s what I love doing, I wouldn’t do anything else, but it’s devaluing the art if you sell them cheaply.”
The exhibition will run from October 23 to November 13 after being officially opened by Curtin MP Kate Chaney.
Special artist talks will be available on Saturday and Sunday afternoon for people to meet Sheath and ask questions about her work.