Naida K designs

During my lifetime I have been a graphic artist, owned a small advertising agency which was responsible for coining the name “Crystal Coast”, and served as an architectural draftsman and interior designer. My vivid imagination has always brought many ideas and creations to life, and my fabric artwork utilizes a variety of materials, graphic design styles and vibrant colors.

Fabrics offer me something other art mediums do not.  After designing my initial pattern, I move my way around my palette of colorful fabrics, then cut, blend and fuse them together on my “canvas” of unbleached muslin fabric. Piece by piece, sometimes itty bitty pieces, the design takes shape. Finishing my creation is accomplished with my “paintbrush” — the multi-colored  threads on my quilting machine where free-motion stitching adds a unique perspective and dimension.  I like to think of my medium as painting with fabric, with raw-edge applique as my technique.  I find this medium best suited to me because of the hands-on approach in combining the tactile sensation of touch with the visual expression of colors. New fabrics even test the sense of smell. 

Fundamental to my being is the belief that all people in this world come from the same source, that we have been created as individuals with particular strengths and characteristics, with crucial roles to fill for ourselves, our families and our communities. I use a lot of symbolism in my artwork because I see meaning in everything, and believe that the awesome river of life flows through and connects each of us to each other as we move through our time in history. Having lived near the ocean for most of my life, the smooth curves found in my work symbolize that ebb and flow.

Because I find every day to be a new and wondrous adventure, filled with diverse and interesting people, I start each day exclaiming “ah….life!”  This statement has become my tagline, and is stitched in lower case cursive, hidden somewhere in each of my fabric art creations as a reminder of the joy each day of life can bring.