After 35 years as an educator, Susan Griffin has entered a new phase in which she can pursue her lifelong interest in art and color. Her mother, Lucille Griffin, was an artist who fostered her interest in drawing and painting from an early age. Her paintings and handmade cards continue to inspire Susan.
Susan was drawn to felting, nuno-felting and dyeing being inspired and fascinated with the endless possibilities of textures and color combinations that can be created when silk and other luxury fibers interact with dyes. When working, she says she feels like an alchemist who arranges elements whose inherent properties take over to create color, light and texture far more beautiful than she could have ever imagined or created. It is truly magical!
Each piece she creates is an original that cannot be exactly duplicated. It would literally be impossible to do so given the variables of fabric, added fibers, ambient and water temperatures, dye lots and embellishments used. Her art includes nuno-felted pieces, as well as work that is created solely with merino wool or silk. The process she uses to create nuno-felted pieces is to overlay superfine merino wool fibers on silk that she has dyed. Using water, mild soap and pressure, a new fabric is created. Embellishments such as silk threads, ribbons, yarn, vintage lace, silk pieces and stitching may be added for texture, sheen and color.
Susan dyes her pieces using fiber reactive, acid or natural botanical dyes. Shibori resist techniques are used prior to the dye process to create interesting patterns. Most often she uses a four-stage process: initial base dye, shibori resist techniques (stitch, block or pleat and bind), a discharge bath and a final over-dye of an accent color.
Susan had often expressed regret at not starting her fiber artwork years earlier. She now says: “I have the understanding that all unfolds as it should. I have the time to pursue my art without the encumbrance of work. What a blessing!”
