D

ebbie Cahn, an artist working in mixed

media, began by admitting that her

surroundings didn't influence her work. In

Seattle, surrounded by mountains and the

beautiful Puget Sound, she says it is the

length of the summer days compared to the

winters with their weaker light that affect

her. And this doesn't show in her artwork

but in her productivity. "Since my work is

abstract, my ideas come from my head, not

from the landscape and people around me."

Cahn has used different outlets for her

creativity at different times--at one time a

poet, then writer, rug hooker, dressmaker,

knitter, and quilter. She remembers in 7th

grade selling color pencil drawings of horse

portraits to her classmates. She started

studying and making art quilts seriously in

1996, "and that began my art career."

Her education was not in art, but she

studies art constantly and takes several

workshops or classes a year. She attributes

her unique approach to her lack of formal

art training. "My approach is experimental.

I take a lot of risks on a daily basis and I

have changed media several times. I never

do the same thing twice. My work has al-

ways been unconventional and very original.

Partly that is due to the isolation in which

I work and my lack of formal art training.

My closest colleagues are an organization

of quilt artists. My work is non-objective,

non-representational, totally abstract." She

nds representational images distracting and

works on a grid where she frequently does

not use a focal point. "Both are carryovers

from my quilt art days," she says.

Her unique approach won her two awards

in 2005: Outstanding Achievement Award

from the National Collage Society and the

American Frame Award from the Interna-

tional Society of Experimental Artists.

Her current medium is mixed-media

collage. In her piece "Pixelated Colors 4,"

she started with

black gesso on

canvas, then cre-

ated a textured

surface with

translucent

papers, and

painted layers

of Golden Fluid

Acrylics on top.

Says Cahn, "I

apply the paint

in a number

of ways, most

commonly

stamping. I

make my own stamps from foam blocks. My

color palette is usually the earth colors such

as Quinacridone Gold and my favorite color

is currently Nickel Azo Yellow for the varia-

tions in its color."

Cahn adds, "I find mixed-media most

suited to my personality. I like to work

quickly and impulsively (quilts take too

long), and work in one-hour bursts through-

out the day, doing other things while the

paint is drying and I am pondering what to

do next."

A hard worker, Cahn is in her studio

seven days a week. There are constantly new

materials to experiment with, and she loves

both fabric and paper and collects both, say-

ing "I love the emphasis on texture."

Her primary artistic influence is contem-

porary quilt art and other forms of ber

art, especially those that are abstract in

composition. She has also been in uenced

by abstract 20th century painters such as

Hans Hofmann, Helen Frankenthaler, Joan

Mitchell, Robert Motherwell, and Richard

Diebenkorn. Cahn is a big fan of Andy

Goldsworthy whom she finds "enormously

creative. I also have a large personal collec-

tion of exhibition catalogs and art books

that I use frequently for inspiration."