About Brenda Lee Reed
I always been interested in American history, especially everyday life. Visually, I admire the boldness of American folk art and the robust design of early advertising. Rug hooking as a medium allows me to emphasize these qualities in my work. My goal is not to imitate old rugs, nor to violate traditional rules of the craft. I seek to humbly add my original designs to those of my predecessors. Collage delights me with its intuitive process. Combining elements from disparate sources creates new “worlds” within a picture. I sometimes undertake projects in other media because every medium has a character made up of its limitations and requirements. It is refreshing to pit my creativity against new challenges. I explore between the traditional and the intuitive and seek my own voice.
Biography
I am a primitive-style rug hooker, collage artist, and I write. I live in the West Virginia town in which I was born and have returned here by way of Swarthmore, Pa., Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, and Los Angeles. The ambition to be an artist has always been the center of my life. My education includes a B.F.A. from Carnegie-Mellon University, and a Screenwriting Certificate from the American Film Institute. I admire the boldness of American folk art. Rug hooking is a natural medium in which to explore these qualities. Collage facilitates a more rapid and intuitive means of creating images, a process that I enjoy. Recently, my hooked rugs were juried into Tamarack, an event that has thrilled me to the core.
