Daily Inspiration: Meet Susan Brubaker Knapp

Today we’d like to introduce you to Susan Brubaker Knapp.  

Hi Susan, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today.
I made my first quilt at age 10 with my mother (a home economics teacher before she had me) and started quilting again in my late 20s to make a baby quilt for my best friend. My husband and I moved to Charlotte to work for The Charlotte Observer in 1996, and I had our first child. When she was two, I really wanted to be at home with her, and while working as a freelance graphic designer from home, I started designing quilt patterns. It quickly turned into a passion and a business. I was invited to teach at local quilt shops and then to write books. I now teach nationally and internationally, host “Quilting Arts TV,” and have produced two books and five video workshops. 

Both my husband and I were working from home in 2019 – our kids were off at college or independent, and we figured we might as well move to our chosen retirement spot early. I’d earned my master’s degree in journalism at UNC-Chapel Hill, and both our daughters had attended there, and Chapel Hill is a fabulously welcoming place for artists. My husband is a huge college sports fan and live music lover, and those were more reasons we chose this area. We found a great house (with a good room for my studio) in a great community and moved in December, just before Covid hit. 

With my travel/teaching grounded, I spent 2+ years working in my studio, creating new work, and charting a different path with a focus on selling my work – exhibiting locally, doing solo shows, and participating in the Orange County Artists Guild’s Open Studio Tour (the first two weekends in November). 

We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
My career path has been a bit of a winding road. I always knew I was an artist, but was discouraged from going to art school by parents who thought a traditional liberal arts education was the best thing for me. I grew up in Mt. Lebanon, Pa., a suburb of Pittsburgh, and earned my B.A. in English at Allegheny College (Meadville, PA.). I worked in publications for a few years in New York City for Chase Manhattan Bank and found myself more interested in the design of the publications than in the writing. After earning my M.A. in journalism at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, I worked at the newspaper in Lexington, KY, where I met my husband, Rob, a journalist. We lived in Charlottesville, VA, for four years, and I commuted to Richmond to work for a trade organization, creating all sorts of publications from start to finish. 

My work now combines everything I learned along the way… writing, editing, photography, graphic design, teaching, and art. 

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I find great joy in creating works that draw people closer and invite them to savor color, texture, and form. Increasingly, my work explores environmental, political, and social issues that affect our world. Much of the art I create is my way of celebrating and documenting the deep mysteries of the world that are to be experienced only by close inspection of the miraculous details of nature. 

My core materials — cloth and thread — are those used in traditional quilting. But I often use things like paint to transform the cloth. Most of my work is realistic/representational in style and starts with original photographs of the subjects or my ink drawings based on them. I use two primary techniques – whole cloth painting and fused appliqué – and sometimes heavily free-motion thread sketch the surface before quilting. 

Do you have any memories from childhood that you can share with us?
I loved being out alone in nature. So much so I was often covered in poison ivy because I’d been lying on my chest along a creek bed, lifting rocks to look for salamanders and crayfish. I made nests out of mud and grass and put them up in tree branches for birds. I might have turned out to be a botanist or biologist if my brain were any good at memorizing. 

Nature is at the core of most of my work today. When walking in my neighborhood or on my travels, I take photos that often end up inspiring my art quilts. I look closely at the details; that’s where I find the most miracles. I work hard to practice gratitude for the astounding beauty and wonder that lies all around us. 

Pricing:

• My work is priced between $125 and several thousand dollars, depending on size and complexity. Most of the work that is for sale is on my website.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://susanbrubakerknapp.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/susanbrubakerknapp/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SusanBrubakerKnappFiberArtist