Artist's Bio

To Contact the Artist:

kimritter@houston.rr.com

281 333 3224

02/01/06

Experimental quilt artist, curator, collector, and author, Kim Ritter has work in corporate, private and museum collections. Her personal journey included five years living overseas in London, England and Copenhagen, Denmark. While in London, Ritter spent two years acquiring her professional City and Guilds certificates in Design and in Patchwork and Quilting under the umbrella of the London Institute of the Arts. She studied the historical basis of quilting while creating a portfolio of experimental quilting techniques, culminating in a student exhibition of her work.

In Copenhagen, Kim wrote a book for beginning quilters that has been published by four publishers in four countries and has been translated into German. Quick Quilting is available in the U.S. from Quilt Digest Press.

Upon entering the art quilt field in 1994, she gained immediate recognition with ribbons in the US from the American Quilter’s Society and in England from the National Patchwork Association for her quilt Peacock Passion. She received a ribbon for Innovation at the 2000 Aullwood Audubon show "The Good Earth." Soil Sample received an award for Best Use of the Medium from the traveling art quilt show Roots of Racism: Ignorance and Fear. She is one of the curators of the traveling exhibit "Fine Focus 02". Ritter's work has appeared in such magazines as American Craft, American Quilter and Quilter’s Newsletter Magazine. Her quilt Resurfacing is included in the prestigious Fiberarts Design Book Six.

As a collector, Kim has more than 100 antique quilts dating from 1802 through the 1940's. The collection began with a family quilt from 1890 and grew during her years living in London, England and Copenhagen, Denmark. Kim also collects antique cross-stitch samplers, Native American beadwork, 50's memorabilia, vintage Aloha shirts, and Doc Martens. She has a Master’s Degree in Education from the University of New Orleans and Bachelor of Arts degree in literature from Emory University.

Ritter travels extensively in search of her treasures and her inspirations. Her favorite places are the standing stones at Avebury in England, the passage grave Newgrange in Ireland, King’s Way in Hawaii, the pyramids at Tellum in Mexico, and the ruins at Knossos in Crete. She is married with two teenagers, two dogs, two cats and loves her ‘59 Ford Fairlane Skyliner. She is a member of the Cherokee tribe of Georgia.

Kim’s quilts feature hand painted and dyed fabrics created by the artist in her studio in Nassau Bay near Houston, Texas. She is currently experimenting with a technique using the sewing machine to create contour drawings through quilting. She then applies layers of resist and silk dye to produce quilts that are vibrant, playful and full of intense color.

Kim believes in promoting the art of the quilt. To that end she has been involved in curating exhibitions of art in the medium. Visit the exhibits that Kim has helped organize and curate:

Fine Focus 02, 04 and 06

Focus: Materials and Meaning

Everywoman