Today we present Madonna Compton of Sophias Textile Arts. Here is a sample of her vibrant artwork. She tells her story:
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I make art in order to share my worldview and to make people happy.
I grew up in the Kansas City area and moved to the SF Bay where I wrote, taught graduate school, and did art shows. I moved back to Overland Park where my siblings are when I retired from teaching. I still write books and make art and hope to do so for the rest of my life! My work has been most significantly impacted by my studies in myth, archetype and the sacred feminine; by issues like social justice and gender inequity; and by climate change.
My logo is a painting made entirely with seed beads, called Earth Guardian. I have often used bird images in my work to signify the Holy Spirit or Mother-Spirit. In the bead painting, she is hovering over a fruitful earth, which is nonetheless in great peril. In another piece, called “I Carry You”—a collage of paper, paint and fabric—she represents the strength and protection of the Mother, who is a bird in flight composed of images of plants, animals and humans, many of which are “hidden”—or not easily seen—but embedded in the flora; they represent minority groups and animals which are threatened. I am also currently working on an animal series of species that are threatened or endangered.
The ‘goddess shrines’ that I make also frequently have a theme. One piece I recently made is called “Dawn Emerging After California Fires” which is the face of Dawn as mother-spirit rising over smoke and flame. The goddesses are often connected to the elements: Aphrodite with a dress of seafoam; Persephone surrounded by hidden earth gems. I also did a shrine series of Byzantine images of Mother Mary, using photographs I took on a visit to a Russian Orthodox monastery. I then embedded the images within hand-made or painted clay tiles and other mixed media.
This is how I share my worldview.
I recently started making face masks that serve not only as protection but are made of beautiful fabrics and so help to make the world we are currently living in a brighter place. And besides my textile work, I also make jewelry, decoupage vessels and plates and felted goodies. Just to make people happy!
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You can find more of her work at her art page:
https://www.etsy.com/shop/SophiasTextileArts
