Suzanne Bates

"The act of creating makes me feel alive and brings me joy. I hope my work spreads the joy."

Suzanne Bates designs work that is a reflection of her background. A graphic designer for 30 years, she now explores textiles out of a desire to create pattern with her hands rather than a computer. Working in textiles provides not only a canvas for her pattern design, but also a tactile and sensory connection to her work that has become a driving force.

Primarily using traditional Japanese resist-dyeing methods, Bates incorporates pole wrapping, stitching, and block clamping to create patterns on silk and linen. Increasingly, her work involves intricately hand-cut wood block forms, many of which can take days to create before they are finally immersed into a vat of dye.

Suzanne Bates holds a BFA in graphic design. She is self-taught in textile arts, having learned primarily from books, a recent class at Penland School of Craft, and an endless amount of trial and error. She has also extensively studied bronze casting and egg tempera painting.

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Selected Exhibitions & Awards
American Craft Council, Atlanta, Georgia, 2013-2015
John Michael Kohler Arts Center, One and Only: Gifts Made by Hand, Sheboygan, Wisconsin, thru Jan 2015