Hello and welcome! I’m Judy Gates.

I create textile collages in which individually cut pieces of fabric are layered, resulting in textured images. I’m inspired by the simplicity and splendor of Maine’s landscapes and its flora and fauna. My first works focused on native Maine wildflowers as drawn and painted by Kate Furbish, a botanist who traveled the state, among the first to catalogue new plant species.

Since those first collages, I’ve expanded my subjects to include wildlife, domestic animals, garden flowers, fruits and vegetables, and the occasional abstract. From a distance, these works read as paintings or drawings. On closer inspection, the texture and tactile quality created by the combination of colors, patterns, and layering become more apparent.

I’m particularly fond of batiks because of the method of creating the textiles results in fabrics that are dyed all the way through and have the variability of watercolor. Overlaying the collage with tulle and freehand stitching through multiple layers creates cohesion between individually cut and placed snips of fabric.

In my free time, I love spending time with my sons, taking in the beauty Maine has to offer, baking, and spending time with my rescue greyhound, Bella.