For Tims, quilting is not merely a means of earning a living - there's an element of philanthropy in his vision. As a gifted artist, Tims is harnessing his abundant creative energy and diverse talents to see him through his mission as an educator and promoter of this form of art.
Renowned internationally for his inspirational quilting lectures, Colorado-based Tims conducts presentations across the US where he also employs his other passion - music - leaving audiences spellbound. A sought-after art educator, Tims now maintains a hectic international schedule conducting seminars and lectures across the US.
His popularity as an innovative teacher stems from his flawless mastery over all aspects of quilting - from dying his own thread and fabric, to designing patterns and creating his distinct fabrics. He has even created elaborate quilts using fabrics that have prints of photos that he has taken. He is tireless when it comes to promoting quilting.
Tims has produced instructional DVDs on quilting and is co-producing and co-hosting a live online show called The Quilt Show. He is also the creative director for a new magazine in the US called Quilt Life.
The quilts that Tims promotes aren't a new art form. The traditional functional comforters have been made and used in colder climates for ages. But it's only recently that quilters have begun to showcase their work as art.
Art quilts take on many forms. From quilted blankets to lap quilts and bed spreads, quilts have even taken on the form of art trading cards (the size of a playing card).
"When someone passes away, their next of kin don't usually fight over a dress that grandma made 50 years ago, but they do fight over who gets to have an heirloom quilt," says Tims. "And that's one reason why the art form takes on a much deeper meaning."
What makes Tims such an inspirational quilter is his ability to excel and find harmony in two completely different passions: music and quilting. Tims' last album, Sacred Age (released in 2006) features solo piano infused with Native American instruments, strings and vocal orchestrations. The album was inspired by the majestic Spanish Peaks region of Southern Colorado.
I met with him when he was in Dubai recently to attend the International Quilt Show, organised by local quilter Mala Ramakrishnan, who also runs a quilting enterprise (called Classic Quilts) in Dubai. I soon found out that the way in which he fuses his love for music with his passion for quilting is what makes his life truly interesting.
I, ME, MYSELF
I wasn't attracted to quilting when I started. I didn't have an innate desire or a particular reason to quilt because my life was all about music at that stage. My 83-year-old maternal grandmother had bought a sewing machine in the same year that her only son was killed in a car accident. Although I couldn't replace her son, we shared a very special bond.
Over the years, I watched her mend and make clothes on this old sewing machine. So after she remarried an 87-year-old widower, my mom asked me if I wanted her sewing machine. I knew that the machine was special to the old lady and so I agreed.
One day, I thought I should try to make something using the sewing machine. Given that I was in the privacy of my own home and there was nobody there to watch me, I decided to make a shirt. It was when I went to a store to buy material that I started having second thoughts. I was about to leave the shop without having purchased anything when I saw a small quilt book. It seemed like a better idea to make a quilt than a shirt. And that's when it all began.
As any quilter will tell you: if you get the bug, there is no going back. It has turned into a lifelong passion that's on par with my music. It wasn't long before I started coming up with ideas to give talks. It went from being local to national in the US and finally became an international platform. I now travel all over the world to promote quilting.
I love creating thing: for my first quilt, I used a pattern, but all the other quilts I have made over the last 19 years have been my own creations. So inevitably, it became a creative outlet. I produce hand-dyed fabrics and instructional DVDs, write books and create design patterns and fabrics - there's also my show and magazine, so I have a full plate!
I am inspired by where I live. First and foremost I'm a Texan, then a musician and a quilter after that. The Southern Colorado landscape with its majestic mountains and beautiful scenery inspires me immensely. Some of my quilts express this natural beauty and I aspire to capture the vastness of the landscape. My album Sacred Age - characterised by peaceful, distinctly Native American piano compositions - is a celebration of nature too.
I'm also inspired by colours. I like big, bold designs which I feel create a real impact on the viewer. Using intense colour achieves that quite effectively. I make plenty of small pieces too, but I especially love the ones that go from the ceiling to the floor.
I believe patchwork can serve as a metaphor for life's experiences. Metaphors of quilting are so true of human life. The patches of a quilt are a result of the coming together of various fabrics, ideas and patterns. The diverse colours and patterns blend into one big design harmoniously, in spite of their differences.
If only we could learn to celebrate our differences and coexist peacefully, we could make such a beautiful worldwide ‘quilt'.
I see quilting quite simply as an expression of who I am. There is no gender bias involved. Nobody really bats an eye when it comes to the gender of a painter but in quilting, many think it's odd that a man would take up such a creative pursuit. So what if it is done predominantly by women? I'm proud to be the kind of artist who can touch the lives of others in a small way.
I like to imagine a world that is peaceful. I know it sounds like a beauty pageant response, but that's truly something I hope for. I love nature and I live at the base of the two majestic Spanish Peaks. Known to the locals as Wahatoya, these peaks are sacred to two native American tribes. If these two enemy tribes ever came face to face in this sacred area, they would lay down their weapons. When I named my album Sacred Age, I was thinking about this and thought it was such a powerful message for the world. The earth is sacred to us and shouldn't we revere it as the tribes did those mountain peaks?
I, ME, MYSELF
Me and the art of quilting
For me, the art of quilting has numerous layers. First, there is the actual making of the quilt starting from a design which articulates an artistic expression, and translating that into a tangible, physical object. I do not make my quilts to be slept under, even if they are large enough to go on a bed. I see my works as visual expressions, simply to be viewed as a beautiful piece of visual art, not so much as a functional piece.
I don't consider my career to be centred on making and selling quilts. I consider my prime role to be an educator. Through quilting, I'm writing my autobiography in fabric. If someone were to look at my life, my music and my quilts and study them, they would see an evolution in my personal experiences. It would be a map of me and my life. Quilts become your story for future generations to read.
Me and self-discovery
People extract so many different meanings from quilts. It's a great medium for self-discovery. Usually, it starts as a social thing. It often starts when someone wants to make something for someone that they love.
Some people find it therapeutic to quilt. A quilt, like a story, has a beginning, a middle and an ending. The quilt's patterns and stitches are a reflection of you through all those moments.
It's like running a marathon: the lessons you learn about yourself during the long stretch last a lifetime.
Me and the modern face of a traditional art
Creative art does not mean pushing technology away. I, for one, embrace technology. I have my computer, my phone, my music on iTunes and I have an online show. And of course, today's sewing machines are a piece of technology too!
First and foremost, I'm an artist and I am promoting an art that has been passed on through generations. I'm merely interpreting it as a modern, creative outlet.
Me and the challenges of quilting
For the most part, there's a lot of labour and patience involved. Although I believe you will never be short of patience if you're doing something you're passionate about.
I think you have to be focused and compartmentalise your work, otherwise nothing would get accomplished. But I also have help. I have two employees who dye fabric the way I have taught them.
For the online television show I have help producing and putting the show together. I would never be able to do all that on my own!
I, ME, MYSELF
Do you sell your quilts?
Very seldomly. Selling quilts is not how I make my living. I work hard on each piece and so I never want to sell them. My decision not to sell them happened years ago when I met a lady who wanted to buy one. I wasn't sure about selling, but I told myself I was being too sentimental. So I told her I'd be willing to sell her one. The lady left and later sent me a letter saying that her pockets were not that deep and she couldn't pay the amount I had set.
Today, many years later, I am so happy I did not sell it because I now see that specific quilt as an important part of my development as a quilter. It's value has also increased over ten-fold! I have about 50 quilts in total but not all of them are great - some are very simple, but they too are part of my artistic development.
What do you think sets you apart from other artists?
I try to inspire people to undergo a journey of self-discovery. In my seminars I combine quilting and music in such a way that the two become a powerful collective inspiration. My seminars are a combination of storytelling, comedy, music and inspirational speaking.
When I run an [art retreat] I don't tell people what they are going to do on a particular day. I let them discover themselves, and as they talk about their [fears] and things that might have made them lose confidence, some of their fears disappear. I really think that quilting can serve as a means of therapy.
What's your dream?
The thing that drives me is a huge 40-acre piece of land in southern Colorado that I bought some years ago, Autumn Rock. My big dream is to build a quilt retreat on this property - in the midst of the rugged mountains. It's an unbelievably scenic place and you are about 10km away from the nearest human! Right now there's just a tiny log cabin there which can only be used for camping.
What is the future for quilting in the region?
Going by the response to the quilt show in Dubai, you can definitely see this community growing. There are women who came from Qatar and several other countries to attend it. Other than their passion for art, there can be no other reason for these women to make a quilt in the Middle East. In this climate, you don't really need quilts, do you? True quilters make quilts for their love of a traditional art.
For more information about quilting in Dubai, visit www.classicquiltsdubai.com and www.quiltsdubai.com. Ricky Tims can be contacted through his website www.rickytims.com -
