Motivation for the Maker: Amanda Nadig

There are so many reasons to love Amanda’s work. What first caught my eye was how she relentlessly experiments with new techniques and ideas. I particularly love her incorporation of screen-printed fabric into her quilts. And then I saw her recent quilt inspired by her work with the Social Justice Sewing Academy; she made the purple quilt (pictured below) in honor of Pamela Turner, a black woman killed by the police in Baytown, Texas. You can read more about this project on her Instagram feed. I asked Amanda what keeps her motivated to make, and there’s some insight there for all of us!

I hope you enjoy her work as much as I do,

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What motivates you to keep making?

I’ve always been a person who has needed to keep my hands busy. But since I’ve been creating quilted works, I live for that amazing moment when I pull a finished quilt out of the dryer and get to see how my hand quilting has transformed my patchwork of new and recycled fabrics. I stare at my quilt for a while and then immediately want to jump into creating another quilt.  Re-engaging with the fabrics I store in my small home studio also motivates me to create new work. Sometimes I’ll just dump all of my fabrics in one pile and admire all of the textures, weights and shades I see in the scraps of just one color! Suddenly I have my next three quilts planned in my brain.

What do you do when you feel uninspired?

I take A LOT of workshops and I challenge myself to incorporate the new techniques I learn into my work. I make it a priority to go to art exhibitions and hear artists speak about their process because this is always followed by a self-reflection on my own artistic practice. Lately I have been connecting and collaborating with other artists on Instagram and that has been a great creative exercise. 

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What’s one thing you wish you could tell your younger artist self?

Oh little Amanda. People have told you that you can draw, so you have some confidence to keep making art. But why are you painting a bunch of watercolor lighthouses? Is that what every teenager dreams of painting? Or is that all you know? Go look at more art and see what you’re drawn to. Experience artwork that makes you think, that you can’t stop staring at, and let it motivate you to make something, even if that thing you make doesn’t become a finished artwork. Ask questions, experiment with materials. And don’t think you have to go buy new art supplies to be an artist. Spend that money on new life experiences and make art with what’s lying around you: cardboard, old clothes, duct tape...let go of what you believe people expect you to make and trust yourself to make whatever you want. Because someday when you are 41, you will dive in and make so many things and your little family will love seeing that making art every day makes you happy (even if they are a little upset at you for leaving needles all over the house to step on). 

You can see more of Amanda’s work on her website.