An Atascadero State Hospital Artist-In-Residence, Janine Kirkpatrick discovered fiber nearly 40 years ago while working for the Peace Corps in Ecuador. She helped a women’s cooperative in the Andes Mountains make shopping bags out of straw



An Atascadero State Hospital Artist-In-Residence, Janine Kirkpatrick discovered fiber nearly 40 years ago while working for the Peace Corps in Ecuador. She helped a women’s cooperative in the Andes Mountains make shopping bags out of straw

The stories behind the stitches

Artists weave, quilt and sculpt textiles as a form of expression, and the results speak volumes about the creators

Jessica Yadegaran

The Tribune

[Excerpt]

Marrying Johnson’s desire for softness with Perry’s political activism, Janine Kirkpatrick, a textile sculptor, created “Border Crossing,” 100 tarlatan cloth hands sewn together and dyed using a Japanese method called Shibori. Coiled barb wire holds the hands together. The piece, featured last month at SLOAC, reflects the atrocities Iraqi prisoners faced at Abu Ghraib.

“By using fencing material in my work, I can freeze the moment and explore the fluid movement of cloth,” said Kirkpatrick, 60, of Templeton.

An Atascadero State Hospital Artist-In-Residence, Kirkpatrick discovered fiber nearly 40 years ago while working for the Peace Corps in Ecuador. She helped a women’s cooperative in the Andes Mountains make shopping bags out of straw. Simple, yes. Intoxicating? Definitely.

“I fell in love with it,” Kirkpatrick said. “I knew it was something I had to do for the rest of my life.”

When this story was prepared, here was the front page of PCOL magazine:

This Month's Issue: August 2004 Teresa Heinz Kerry celebrates the Peace Corps Volunteer as one of the best faces America has ever projected in a speech to the Democratic Convention. The National Review disagreed and said that Heinz's celebration of the PCV was "truly offensive." What's your opinion and who can come up with the funniest caption for our Current Events Funny? Exclusive: Director Vasquez speaks out in an op-ed published exclusively on the web by Peace Corps Online saying the Dayton Daily News' portrayal of Peace Corps "doesn't jibe with facts." In other news, the NPCA makes the case for improving governance and explains the challenges facing the organization, RPCV Bob Shaconis says Peace Corps has been a "sacred cow", RPCV Shaun McNally picks up support for his Aug 10 primary and has a plan to win in Connecticut, and the movie "Open Water" based on the negligent deaths of two RPCVs in Australia opens August 6. Op-ed's by RPCVs: Cops of the World is not a good goal and Peace Corps must emphasize community development.

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