Andrus Gardens & More - Artist Information

Artist Information

Bio:


Sue Andrus is a textile artist inspired by flowers, gardens and nature. She also has had several art quilts and garden photos in special exhibits at the International Quilt Festivals, and other shows. Sue grew up in rural Western New York, and moved to Towanda, Pennsylvania with a degree in horticulture. She worked in the floriculture industry for nearly 30 years while beginning her art business and raising 3 sons. Not finding just the right colors of fabric in stores, she began painting and dyeing her own fabrics, and now uses them almost exclusively in her art. Sunprinting fabrics with leaves and flowers bring her two main passions together... Gardening and Fabric Art. Sue's numerous gardens contain plants collected over nearly 30 years and supply most of the subjects used for sunprinting as well as inspiring new works. In addition to Art Quilts, she designs and creates gift items including jewelry, fabric covered journals and photo albums, tote bags and more. Sue began writing and selling patterns for her gift items so that others can make them with their own fabrics and creative styles. She loves sharing her creative knowledge through her blog, teaching workshops and lecturing. Sue sells her work from online shops on ArtFire.com (AndrusGardensQuilts.artfire.com and AndrusGardens.artfire.com) and sells her patterns on Craftsy.com.

 

Artist Statement:

With a degree in horticulture, I moved from western NY to Towanda, PA for my first job at a greenhouse, which my husband and I ended up buying, many years and 3 sons later. During those years, I also re-learned to quilt, and my business began. I started making and selling bed quilts in 1992, and soon found that I preferred making smaller items, including small pillows, stuffed animals, and small wall decorations. I then moved on to uniquely shaped placemats & table runners along with traditionally pieced wall hangings, and quilted picture frames.
I began painting my own fabrics, so that I could use colors that I could not find in fabric stores, then started painting background impressions of gardens for my Window and Trellis series of quilts, immersing myself in the calming colors of land and sky. While learning more about fabric painting, I stumbled across the process of sunprinting on fabric, and got hooked. With many plants available to experiment with, playing with fabric, paint, leaves and flowers became very fascinating and therapeutic. Most of my newer work includes my sunprints and other hand painted fabrics. I now design art quilts in all sizes, mini art quilt pins and pendants, combine my quilting with beading for wearable art. Small quilts inspired by botanical prints in 5x7", 8x10", and 11x14" sizes for framing, to larger quilts for wall decorating. The beauty of flowers and gardens are my inspiration for my quilts and other items. I now do much of my gardening in fabric. Newest items include quilted postcards for a unique gift of art that can be mailed. I also photograph many of my quilts for note cards and reproductions, that I print myself, onto quality papers with archival inks that make special gifts. 2007 brought changes that allow me to pursue my quilting full time. I look forward to more experimenting, teaching and showing others about what has become my full time passion.

© 2002-2013: Andrus Gardens and More- Sue Andrus.
All images, artwork, and original designs are property of Susan Andrus.