Local, award-winning fiber artist Karen Payton has taken her fabric portraits to the windows of the Coastal Communities Cancer Center at 2900 Loma Vista (and Joanne).
Karen Payton has a background rooted in the apparel industry but currently splits her time between creating art and working in digital marketing. She has been collecting fabric and old clothing for years and searches for harmonious colors and patterns to complete her work. Many of her images include hand embroidery using thousands of colored stitches to render beautiful, soulful portraits. Embroidery is one of the best ways to personalize fabrics. Karen is extremely talented at embroidery, with most of her designs being from her own mind.
After two close friends began treatment for cancer, Karen was drawn to the opportunity to display her work at the hospital. “If I can bring even a moment of joy to patients and their families, it would mean so much.” Karen’s art will be on display in the windows until June 8.
After seeing the impact of these fabric portraits upon the patients in this center, perhaps more people around the country would like to do something similar to put a smile on some people’s faces. People don’t even just have to create portraits, they could also look at personalizing clothing or other pieces of fabrics. Beginners can always get their machine embroidery designs online if they’re not too sure what designs to use. There are websites online that offer multiple designs, guaranteed to make some people smile. All people would need is an embroidery machine and they would be ready to go. Putting smiles on the patient’s face is so rewarding, so it might be fun to follow in Karen’s footsteps and do some embroidery of your own.
