Creative Spark Instructor Spotlight: Valerie Goodwin
Jan 27th 2022
Valerie Goodwin wears many hats: Creative Spark Instructor, art quilter, architect, author, and professor.
Valerie S. Goodwin received degrees in architecture from Washington University in St. Louis and Yale University. She teaches architectural design at Florida A&M University and has a studio space in a popular warehouse area for artists near the campus where she teaches.
In 1998, she became very interested in designing and making quilts as an outgrowth of her architectural background. What began as a teaching tool became a passion and grew into a successful career as a fiber artist. Her award-winning work has been widely published and exhibited. She gives lectures and workshops nationally and internationally.
Most of her work is inspired by her love of aerial views of landscapes and cities. Many of her quilts are based on maps. Her art has moved through various stages from traditional quilting to an interest in abstract expressionism. However, she is most passionate about creating work inspired by real and imaginary landscapes and cities. Find out more about her workshops, lectures, and commissions at her website, quiltsbyvalerie.com.
Now she’s sharing her art and techniques with Creative Spark. In her course, Mapping Personal Places, she shows you that with fabric, a little imagination, a dab of paint, sheers, and thread that you can create something beautiful and memorable.
Valerie guides you through finding inspiration in real and imaginary sites, selecting a color palette, transforming a place's essential lines and shapes into quilt designs, creating luminous textures with fabric layering, paints, stamps, stencils, drawing, free-motion stitching, and appliqué. This course is packed full of various techniques you can use to create your own Art Quilt Map. As a bonus, you get a free eBook copy of her book, Art Quilt Maps.
