Lyric Kinard won $1,000.00 from Busy Bee Quilt Shop for her 1st Place: Art Abstract winning quilt, Remains of the Day

Lyric Kinard regrets that she didn’t spend more time developing her creative outlet in the visual arts when she was growing up. Her father was a high school art teacher and she refused to take the art lessons from him that the rest of her siblings enjoyed. Instead, Lyric chose music. She was a working musician and also studied creative writing and architecture through college. Later, she dabbled in watercolor and pottery. She put a hold on her creative side when she became a mother. Knowing she was missing her creative sense of self, a friend decided to get Lyric out of the house and took her to a traditional quilt bee. Lyric loved it and learned solid fundamental techniques from the amazing women she met. A couple of years later, Lyric saw her first art quilt and was enchanted. Up until that point, she hadn’t understood the potential that textiles had as a creative medium. Lyric was immediately hooked and hasn’t looked back since. What she enjoys about working with textiles is that she can create art a few stitches at a time, five minutes here and there, and doesn’t have to worry about the “paint drying on the brush while I’m taking care of the kids.” How did Remains of the Day come about? Recalls Lyric, it “was literally that – a creation from the dwindling remains of a collection of hand dyed cloth used to create a series of work for an exhibit at the Visions Museum in Sand Diego. The pile dwindled but each piece of shibori was too beautiful and inspiring not to immediately use for the next abstract quilt.” Lyric said that it took her whole life, experimenting and failing and practicing to get to a point where she could succeed in creating this piece. She worked a number of uncatalogued hours to dye the cloth, cut it, arrange it and sew it. Because Remains of the Day is a “small quilt,” Lyric was surprised that she had won first place for Art Abstract. She used her winnings for out of town expenses associated with her daughter’s recent wedding. What’s next for Lyric and her fiber artistry? “I follow where the works themselves lead. Sometimes I have an idea to start with. Sometimes I have a destination. Many times the work itself carries me to a different place than I imagined. That’s a good thing.” To learn more about Lyric, visit her website.]]>