My fabric collages are made from scraps of old cloth and I use my sewing machine as a drawing tool to create dense surfaces. When I sort through the bits of fabric looking for the just right next color I remember the magic discoveries when I played with the sewing remnants my grandmother kept in a bag in her closet - along with her button box. Serendipity and accident are important in my art. I work intuitively - the materials at hand guide the work. My major aesthetic concerns are color, light,texture and surface design. I stop when the composition feels right.

Working with fabric connects me and my work to women's tradition, particularly to all the seamstresses I have discovered in my family lines. These works honor them and celebrate their lives.

ABOUT THE ARTIST: Ellouise Schoettler is a visual artist and storyteller. Schoettler's exhibition record includes one-person, group and juried exhibitions in the US, Italy, and Africa. Most recently her work was featured in one-person shows at Queens College, Charlotte, NC and Loyola College, Baltimore, MD and Strathmore Hall Arts Center, Rockville, MD. Her collage works were included in BOOK ART VI at the National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington,DC. January 2001 her work will be featured in a two person exhibition at the Center for Women in the Arts, Meredith College, Raleigh, NC.. Schoettler is a storyteller. She combines her visual art, local history, personal experience and storytelling in performances which celebrate everyday moments in the lives of ordinary women. Recent performances include, California College of Arts and Crafts, Oakland, CA, The Museum of the New South, Charlotte, NC, Meredith College, Raleigh, NC, Chevy Chase Historical Society, Strathmore Hall Arts Center. Rockville, MD, Northern Virginia Community College, Woodbridge, VA, Third Annual Women in Storytelling Festival, University of Cape Breton, Sydney, Nova Scotia.