Gail Porcelan

I am a retired Fort Bragg teacher. I have always incorporated art in the curriculum as a way to enhance the academic work of my students with creative projects which were relevant to the topic, time period and culture we studied. I began creating my own work 20 years ago which is rooted in fiber art and mixed media collage.

My textile wall hangings are made with a variety of Japanese woven and printed fabrics. I also lean towards batiks, Aborigine and African printed fabrics and up cycled natural fabrics. The hand sewing is inspired by the sashiko tradition of using contrasting color thread (usually white) to make running stitches in patterns. I often use traditional kamon motifs (crests).

The embellishments vary from handmade buttons, pebbles, shells, wood, buttons, beads, ribbon and photos printed on fabric. The smaller pieces are hand printed or hand batiked and I have been incorporating traditional Adinkra symbols from Ghana. Recently I have enjoyed making macramé bracelets often using up cycled beads.

You can contact me at gporcelan@gmail.com if you are interested in any of my pieces, I have many pieces on display in my studio, a selection in Ficus and Fern in Fort Bragg and Indigo in Mendocino and on the Pacific Textile Arts website. (https://www.pacifictextilearts.org/members-work-for-sale/)