Jackson artist Dave Walker uses scraps of material to create 'fabricscapes'

Though Jackson artist Dave Walker's pieces have sharp edges and defined lines, upon closer inspection his work reveals itself to be soft and smooth to the touch.

Walker works as the administrator of Jackson Manor nursing home and is a longtime oil and watercolor artist with a degree in art education. A recent venture into a new medium, fabrics, has garnered him several awards and placement in a national art show.

Walker calls his creations "fabricscapes."

Walker's expansion into fabric art began when he quit smoking in 1992.

"I needed something to do with my hands, so I started making quilts," he said.

He ended up with about a dozen completed quilt projects, from which he decided to use leftover pieces of fabric to begin creating fabricscapes in 2009.

"None of it was intentional," Walker said. "It developed and evolved over time."

Many of his fabric works are representations of nature. Other pieces are modeled after places he's been or memories from his past.

Walker said he thinks the creative use of fabric is endless because of all the possible patterns and colors that can be used. He often shops for fabrics online.

Walker displays his work each month at the Arts Council of Southeast Missouri as a member of the Visual Arts Co-op. Selling his work is great, he said, because it means he can buy more fabric and pay for framing.

"I enjoy producing," he said. "It is stress relieving for me. I just enjoy the creative process."

To create his art, Walker said, he first comes up with an idea, sorts through fabrics and begins cutting and laying pieces down until he sees an image that works. He uses a sewing machine to hold it all together.

The size of Walker's works vary, as does the time he takes to create them. He recently finished a 3 1/2-by-3 1/2-foot piece in a month and a half.

"Dave is very talented and patient to make those beautiful pieces of work," said Carol Horst, a longtime friend of Walker and his wife, Julie.

Horst is an art education instructor at Southeast Missouri State University, a Visual Arts Co-op member and serves on the board of the Arts Council of Southeast Missouri. She met the Walkers through her husband, a pharmacist who supplies medicine to the nursing home where Walker works.

Horst was the one to suggest Walker join the Visual Arts Co-op.

In 2009 and 2010, Walker's awards for his fabric art have included a Best In Show award from Southeast Missouri Hospital's "Art for the Health of It" annual exhibit; first place in a Sikeston Depot Museum contest; and first, second and Honorable Mention placement in categories in the 56th annual Poplar Bluff Artists' Guild Regional Art Exhibit at the Margaret Harwell Art Museum in Poplar Bluff, Mo.

Walker said he would like to have a solo show in a local gallery, and he has plenty of work to show. In the meantime, he will continue to work out of his home and enjoy the gallery he created from an extra bedroom.

In October, Walker's work will be on display in the gallery of Bluestem Missouri Crafts in Columbia, Mo.