JamilaHammadArt

I had a career in corporate marketing but was always dreaming of being an artist. In my spare time I took whatever art course I could, from ceramics to watercolors. I also did a bit of creating writing, some poetry, short stories, and even a novel.
One day I went to see an exhibit of textile artists who were creating amazing fabric collages and combining these with quilting techniques to create something called an Art Quilt. I was completely enchanted by these very textured art pieces and I knew this was the art that I wanted to make. I began to teach myself how to do this, and had to learn first the basics of quilting as a foundation for the collages. I loved this process of creating texture with thread and embellishments, like yarn, beads, sequins, etc.
In 2005 my husband and I moved to St. Croix, US Virgin Islands and with so much beauty around me, I found plenty to inspire me here. I knew that I could devote myself to honoring the majesty of the sea with my art, and that I could easily spend the rest of my life doing it without ever running out of inspiration!
For the past 15 years I have been exhibiting my work throughout the island of St. Croix in group and solo exhibitions. I still make art quilts, and now also make mixed-media fabric collages on wood panels, which I embellish with paints, foams, beads, sand, glitter, and anything that works to make the spirit of the sea come to life in my work.
In this video you can see the process of creating Sunrise, one of my mixed-media fabric collages on a wood panel featured in my Lullaby to the Sea Series.