Artist Profile: Sharon Crumley - Family Life Publications

Fabric and Paper Collages

By Heike Hellmann-Brown

Interhuman connections are the lead motive of Sharon Crumleys work. Fabric or paper in artfully arranged pieces or woven strips, single or multi-layered, are my symbolism for the ties that bind us, the artist explains.

Born and raised in Southern California, Crumley had been exposed to textiles as a child, sewing doll clothes with the help of her mom. Later she took up crocheting and sold her handmade hats and scarves to a small boutique in town. After graduating from school she worked in cosmetology for many years and then became a software trainer, training courthouse staff and law enforcement agencies in computer technology.

In 1992 her husbands job transfer brought her to Georgia, and the family settled in Roswell with their three kids. Sharon Crumley returned to a corporate career with IBM, but lost her job with the downturn of the economy, when her work was outsourced. I went back to sewing, but this time not clothes. Something more immediate was necessary to provide an income. After cutting fabric in squares and random pieces, laying them out and sewing them together, the result was very pleasing the idea to create fabric collages was born! Crumley recalls.

She entered her first piece into a show at the Defoor Center, and when she came to the reception to see how it was displayed it had sold already. Encouraged she began to experiment with the medium and transitioned from fabric collage to woven paper that she colors herself in free-form abstract patterns. Paper is readily available, and I can create my own patterns while fabric already has patterns. Yet I am still able to reinforce the textural nature through the rough edges of the medium, Crumley says.

Her mixed media artwork became increasingly purposeful when Crumley remembered a book she had read with her mom as a child. The book was 100 Dresses by Eleanor Estes, Crumley states. The story is about a child that was bullied in the 1940s for wearing the same dress to school every day. With that memory the 100 Dresses Series was started. It has taken many years to complete and is now also including note cards and prints.

Apart from this 100 Dresses Series Crumley creates Kimono-collages and African Tutu-collages. Especially my African Art is another expression of who I am, the artist says.

Playing with fabric one afternoon inspired Crumleys popular fortune cookies mixed media collages with inspirational messages that she places in shadowbox frames. We all have days when we need to be motivated, Crumley states. These fortune cookies can be a reflection upon life, maybe a need to take action, they can instill a new way of thinking or serve as a gentle reminder to be kind.

While Sharon Crumleys work has been featured in various galleries and exhibitions, she is still displaying regularly at local artist markets.