SPOTLIGHT ON ART

By Carolyn Henderson

Special to the Dayton Chronicle

DAYTON–Anyone who seriously sews knows that it's impossible to have too much fabric.

Each project demands a certain look, tone, feel – and the patterns and color of specific fabric go far in creating that. In the right hands, the hands of a skilled sewist, flat pieces of cloth are formed, reformed, shaped, and assembled into all sorts of beautiful items.

Kathy Snow, who with nearly 60 years at the sewing machine, is indeed a skilled sewist, knows about turning fabric into fabulous. The Dayton fiber artist creates garments, quilts, home décor, and gift items using a stash of fabric that includes 168 bolts of material ranging from 4 to 8 yards each, stacks of flats from 1-2 yards each, a chest of drawers filled with bling-y, princess-y stuff, and 16 large totes of bits and pieces.

And while she loves a variety of fabric and sees potential in all of it, Snow confesses a partiality toward material that celebrates the winter holidays of Thanksgiving and Christmas – holidays that focus upon the essential and necessary interaction of people with family, friends, and other human beings.

"I love all the pretty red and gold and green, and well, just about everything about Christmas," Snow says.

For the holidays, Snow has created a selection and collection of items perfect for gift giving, from child-sized aprons designed to hold crayons to full-sized aprons for adults, from table runners and quilted mats to an advent calendar customized to hold various treats.

Through the holiday season, Wenaha Gallery is featuring Snow and her work as the Pacific Northwest Art Event. The gallery, located at 219 E. Main, Dayton, is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and by appointment.