Fabriccation

For artist Darlene Joy Virgin it starts with the fabric.

Her fascination with fabric started at an early age, making cloths for her little troll dolls. A piece of cloth cut to size with armholes so that the attire could easily slip on the doll.

That interest as a young girl has led to her as an adult creating intricate fabric designs. Her materials are sorted into bins by type: solids, plaids, Asian, etc. She looks at the various designs and colors, drawing inspiration. One design might suggest tall grasses by a lake during sunset. She places the strips down, seeing how they form an overall pattern, “auditioning” each component. When the pieces fall into place, the pattern is glued down.

Fabric is her palette. Darlene creates a variety of work from her choices, just like a painter who uses a range of colors and textures to create an image.

Darlene grew up in an Air Force family, traveling around the world. Some of her images have a tropical motif, memories of a young girl living in Guam.

Darlene and her husband moved to Plattsburgh in 2005. A new environment, new inspirations.

Her fabric artwork is now on display in the Textile Gallery at the Plattsburgh Public Library. Also her work can be seen at her website, http://www.2purejoy.com/ .