Cheryl Ann Thomas
Artwork Information
“Forage”, 2025
crocheted cotton cord and wood support
40" x 33" x 7"
$1,200
Natural dyes and crochet are my new passions. I chose the colors of grasses and dyed the cotton cord in colors made from grasses and plants creating a circle from plant to process to the artistic impulse. Many factors remain a constant in my present work. I continue to examine the possibilities within fixed parameters.
The work is process based. The process is an active and visible factor in the look of the finished piece. Cotton cord and a single crochet stitch create a recognizable texture. Through repetition, I gain an understanding of the propensity of the material and process.
Colors develop from natural materials. I dye and over dye fiber to achieve a personal sense of harmony.
I begin with an initial plan and then watch it jump the tracks and take off in another direction. Random patterns, colors and juxtapositions emerge. I am no longer in the driver's seat. I am simply along for the ride.
Artist Statement:
Cheryl Ann Thomas delights in the unexpected and relishes the moment her hand coiled porcelain and stoneware vessels assume a life of their own. Constructing these sculptures is an intimate process involving meticulous care, with the artist carefully assembling coil after coil. During the firing nature takes over and the variables of climate and clay, the artist’s eye and fate come together to create vessels that seem at once modern and ancient.
Thomas claims that “any perceived beauty is intrinsic to the processes and not intentional.” Her work reminds us of the space between order and chaos, success and collapse. Thomas does not back away from mistakes. Instead, she says, “Sometimes you have to take your mistakes and put them on a pedestal.”
The artist is widely collected and has exhibited internationally.
Cheryl Ann Thomas’ documentation took place in 2007 and was sponsored by Jo Ellen and Stephen Lee and the Jessica and Stanley Prescott Trust. The FOTM Archive contains