Artist statement
Jill Kerttula’s fiber art is the culmination of her years of professional art experience, combined with her avocations of sewing and photography. Kerttula was a professional graphic designer and art director; she taught college level art and design classes; as an art major, she specialized in printmaking; and she spent several years on the art fair circuit selling wearable art.
The fiber works that Kerttula now creates, merge her photography, drawing, and stitching.
She puts it this way: “My photos and drawings are what I saw. My stitching changes it to how, as an artist, I see it.” The stitching allows her to celebrate and express textures in a way that the flat surface of photography or drawing does not. Her photography or drawings provide the underlying composition for her work.
In 2014, she retired from commercial design work, and moved to Virginia. It was then she started using larger scale digital images printed on fabric, and working full-time as a fine artist. Her work has received many awards in international and national shows. In 2015, Kerttula spent a month as the Artist-in-Residence at the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. In 2018, she was one of two international artists chosen to present a solo show as a ‘Rising Star’ at the International Quilt Festival in Houston Texas. She also had a solo show at the Rocky Mountain Museum of Quilts in 2018. In 2019, and again for 2021, she was juried into the prestigious international ‘Quilt National’ biennial show.
In 2021 She won the Janome Award for "Innovation in Artistry" at the Houston international Quilt Show and the International Quilt Museum's Award of Excellence at the Quilt National biennial show
Her fiber based works include a range of subjects that Kerttula has explored photographically; including DC and Charlottesville urban life. They also explore her love of texture and use both conventional and unconventional quilting materials.
Through her work she strives to bridge the craftsmanship and traditions of fiber art “women’s work” with the strong concept and composition required in the fine arts of painting and photography, thus helping to expand the boundaries of both areas.
The fiber works that Kerttula now creates, merge her photography, drawing, and stitching.
She puts it this way: “My photos and drawings are what I saw. My stitching changes it to how, as an artist, I see it.” The stitching allows her to celebrate and express textures in a way that the flat surface of photography or drawing does not. Her photography or drawings provide the underlying composition for her work.
In 2014, she retired from commercial design work, and moved to Virginia. It was then she started using larger scale digital images printed on fabric, and working full-time as a fine artist. Her work has received many awards in international and national shows. In 2015, Kerttula spent a month as the Artist-in-Residence at the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. In 2018, she was one of two international artists chosen to present a solo show as a ‘Rising Star’ at the International Quilt Festival in Houston Texas. She also had a solo show at the Rocky Mountain Museum of Quilts in 2018. In 2019, and again for 2021, she was juried into the prestigious international ‘Quilt National’ biennial show.
In 2021 She won the Janome Award for "Innovation in Artistry" at the Houston international Quilt Show and the International Quilt Museum's Award of Excellence at the Quilt National biennial show
Her fiber based works include a range of subjects that Kerttula has explored photographically; including DC and Charlottesville urban life. They also explore her love of texture and use both conventional and unconventional quilting materials.
Through her work she strives to bridge the craftsmanship and traditions of fiber art “women’s work” with the strong concept and composition required in the fine arts of painting and photography, thus helping to expand the boundaries of both areas.