These are questions often asked of fiber artist Carole O’Brien of New Castle, Colo. The art quilt, or fiber art, has been called “the evolutionary cousin of the classic quilted bedcover” by Hillary Morrow Fletcher, Quilt National Project director, according to O’Brien, who likes that description. Fiber artists, O’Brien says, “may use paint, beads, digital imaging, found objects, etc. She manages the Book Train bookstore in Glenwood Springs and is a member of the Art Quilt Association of the Western Slope. Inspiration for her fiber art comes from many different sources, O’Brien says “a book I’m reading, a personal experience, patterns and colors in nature, but most especially the colors and textures of the materials I work with. One quilt, called “All My Mothers,” was shown in an “I Remember Mama” project and is featured in a book of the same title. read more

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