Raised in Kettering, Ohio, Brandt attended the Center for Creative Studies in Detroit. It was the book by Ohio quilt artist Nancy Crow that inspired Brandt to begin her third career as a quilt artist in 2007. “I was amazed at the visual impact of her work,” stated Brandt, “but I had no idea of how to start making my artwork. I wondered how to create from scratch without any parameters.” At the Timber Frame Barn Workshop in Baltimore, Ohio, Brandt found harmony between Crow’s method of teaching improvisational art and her own decade-long practice at a Zen center.
“For me, Buddhism is not a religion with set beliefs, but a science of constant observation and questioning,” stated Brandt. “One learns to pay very close attention to what is happening from moment to moment and the resulting cascade of effects. This ability to continually bring my mind back from its wanderings is invaluable when creating art or just when trying to live my life fully. Meditation retreats and art-making retreats with Nancy Crow are similar in terms of intensity, focus, and the continual quest for going beyond the known.”
Brandt is delighted to exhibit at the Zanesville Museum of Art. “This part of Ohio has a special place in my heart,” she stated. Her father was born and raised in Athens, and as a child, she visited Zanesville and the surrounding areas during family vacations.
The ZMA is pleased to announce that Shapeshifters is included on the 20th Biennial of Quilt National, Quilt National ‘17 Quilt Crawl, May 27 through September 2, 2017, hosted by The Dairy Barn Arts Center, Athens, Ohio. For more information, please visit www.dairybarn.org/quiltnational
Free and open to the public.
No registration required.
For more information please call (740) 452-0741.
