by Arlene Wright-Correll

This weekís Kentucky artist is Gloria Kemper-OíNeil

Gloria Kemper-OíNeil lives in Louisville, KY and is a Fiber Artist who designs and creates non-traditional wall hangings. Her present creations evolved over a period of years as she had been working with clay, making Goddesses with fiber hair and exotic clothing.

For the past six years she has been working exclusively as a Fiber Artist. She creates machine embroidered and machine quilted wall hangings. Some are embellished with beading. She says inspirations for many of her designs come to her in dreams and many feature Goddess figures.

Her love for sewing came to Gloria from her grandmother who taught her how to sew on her Singer treadle sewing machine and also how to embroider. Now that Gloria is also a grandmother and a retired RN, as well as a Fiber Artist she sews on a state-of-the-arts electric sewing machine and a giant long arm quilting machine. Her work embodies female energy, images, abstracts, shapes and colors that inspire her. She enjoys exploring, breaking the rules and being open to the unexpected. This freedom brings about many surprises!

Gloria has had an annual Art Show for the past five years and her work has been in some of the top juried shows nationally and on exhibit in regional and local galleries. A number of her pieces are in private collections around the country. She says, “When I am doing my art I am dancing a sacred dance.”

In her free time she enjoys golfing and mountain hiking and she also does daily yoga.

Her awards are as follows:

Honorable Mention, for “Kuan Yin”, 13th Juried Art Exhibit 2006, Krempp Gallery, Jasper, IN

1st Place 2-Dimensional, for “Tribal Woman”, 2004 NWMF Juried Fine Art Exhibit,

Ohio State University, Columbus OH

Honorable Mention, for “Donít Sass Me”, An American Experience 2003, Associated Artists, Winston-Salem, NC

2003 E. Hailey Most Expressive Award for, “Tribal Woman”, Louisville Craftsmenís Guild, Patio Gallery, Louisville, KY

Gloria is also published in the following publications:

We ëMoon 2005 Date Book, Mother Tongue, Ink., Estacada, OR.

Magic Patch Magazine, Lyon, France, Issue #18, 2004.

We ëMoon 2004 Datebook, Mother Tongue Ink., Estacada, OR.

The Forest Echo, Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest, Clermont, KY, Winter, 2001.

The Courier-Journal, Business Section, Louisville, KY, Feb. 26, 2001.

Gloriaís professional affiliations are:

Louisville Area Fiber and Textile Artists (LAFTA)

Louisville Artisans Guild (LAG), Juried Member (formerly Louisville Craftsmenís Guild)

Louisville Visual Art Association (LVAA)

Women in the Arts, Indianapolis, IN

Her website is http://home.insightbb.com/~gloriasgoddesses

To view all upcoming arts and crafts workshops in your area of KY please go to http://www.learn-america.com/?page_id=1740

(Contact Arlene Wright-Correll at 270 524 9567 or email her at askarlene@scrtc.com  if you want to be next weekís column of Whoís Who in KY Artís and Crafts©)