Years ago, I printed quilt blocks. I had been making prints on paper for some time and I have always been a sewer. In 1978, I made a print on paper that incorporated images of this old community that began on Lake Erie, as a summer campground for wealthy families in Buffalo. There was a train station nearby making it possible for the men to commute into the city. Each family had their own home, but they all ate together in a community dining hall. I worked with old photos from the Town of Hamburg historian, sketches that I made of a burned out house on the grounds and an old map of the area. At this time the only access to the area was an old rickety bridge that went over the 18 Mile Creek. The fire engines would not cross it. Many homes burned. The bridge has since been replaced. Idlewood is still there on the shore of Lake Erie in the Town of Hamburg. While I was printing the separate elements on paper, I decided to print some on fabric. I always had a lot old remnants from all of the sewing that I did. The next year, I put them all together to make this hanging. This was the start of my fabric art.
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| Idlewood Wall Hanging, 1907-1979 |
In 2009, I found slides that I had taken of many of the pieces that I had made.
I put them into a Power Point presentation and added that to my web site.
Here is a link to it. http://dorothymarkert.com/Textiles,%20designed,.pdf
In 1995 I became a Roycroft Renaissance Artisan. I have always been interested in the Arts and Crafts Movement. I devoted myself to printing works on paper instead of fabric. To be honest, I was tired of all of the sewing - now I sew just for pleasure. Rag dolls and doll clothes were my next obsession as well as clothes for my four grand daughters. After that, I rid myself of tons of fabric scraps and sewing notions. My sewing room now features my collection of antique, toy sewing machines. I occasionally go up there to make some new curtains or do some mending.
