Lorraine has been creating with fiber since she was a young girl. As a child she would while away the hours sewing, crocheting, and working with crewelwork. She learned to sew garments at the side of her mother and paternal grandmother who were both gifted seamstress’.
She is a self-taught artist. She began quilting in 1997 and immediately was intrigued with the design elements of the quilt. Thus, began her exploration of color, repetition, design, and texture. Soon Lorraine began to experiment with a more contemporary approach to textiles and developed her own artistic voice. Her creative roots are firmly embedded in the traditional needle arts and this is reflected in her current body of work. Inspired by her Faith, her travels and the natural world, she employs layers of both hand and machine stitches together with various surface design techniques. This unique approach allows her to successfully captures the depth, color, contrast, and texture of her subject matter.
Since 1993 Lorraine had lived in the Ithaca area of the Finger Lakes Region in Central New York until 2019 when she relocated to The Villages, Florida. She recently retired from a career in nursing. She enjoys the support of her husband, their children, and grandchildren.
Lorraine is an exhibiting textile artist and has won several awards for her fiber art.
She owns and operates The Tangled Thread, a longarm quilting business; gives presentations and teaches classes focused on mixed media and stitched art.
These days, she dedicates her energy to facilitating a group of twenty-five local artists, who meet twice a month to share and explore their common love for textile art. Lorraine also enjoys writing poetry and painting with acrylics and watercolor.
School of Stitched Textiles MP Programme https://www.sofst.org/courses/masters-courses/
Contact Information:
Lorraine Benjamin
web https://lorrainebenjamin.com/
email lorisue28@hotmail.com
facebook https://www.facebook.com/Lorisue28
instagram https://www.instagram.com/lorisue28/