Mary Smith: Sisters quilter, photographer and artist

If you go into the Sisters Library anytime in October, you will see quilts of all sizes and descriptions hanging on the wall near the front door and on into the main part of the building, all by Sisters quilter, photographer and artist, Mary D. Smith.

Of her wall-hanging near the front door, a challenge quilt named "Spirits in the Wind," Mary says:

"A brave would be sitting high above a canyon, praying to the horse spirits in the sky. But every viewer could have a different story. Perhaps the young brave was praying for a horse of his own, or perhaps some of the older braves had ridden away in a hunting party or a war party and had never returned. Then again, a lot of people see the figure on the rocks as a girl, who might be praying to the spirits for the return of someone special who had ridden away with a raiding party.

"The viewer, however, almost always sees the horses as spirit horses, and the figure to be communicating with them from his/her perch high above the canyon floor. I worked for several months on the design, developing the idea I wanted to portray. This quilt did win the first-place award in that challenge and was worth the time spent on it."

Of all of Mary's quilts, "Valley River Geese" is one of her favorites, a work that started as a slide (photograph) when she lived near Eugene.

"I got up early to take pictures along the river at sunrise," she said, "and captured a scene that I made into a pictorial quilt some 10 years later."

Mary's love of quilting came as natural as breathing. She was born at a time and into a family that made everything from scratch: clothing, meals from the garden, and quilts.

"It was just the way my family lived," she said.

On top of that, she always had the eye of an artist, just like her mother, grandmother, and aunts.

When she was planning on getting married, she saw the picture of a beautiful quilt in a farm magazine and had to make it. With her mother's help she did just that, but with innovations. She drew the patterns, and being the artist she is, created a few new ones to replace those she couldn't see in the picture - 20 blocks or so of them, all different, red, green and black and all hand-appliquéed.

When she moved to Sisters, quilting was everywhere. She took a class, joined up with neighbors who quilted and found a group in Bend.

"But being the independent person I am," she said, "I did my own thing."

Mary's "other thing" is photography, especially birds. The two - photography and quilting - fit together very well. Now she produces original quilts, usually wall-hanging size, and some based on her photos.

Smith doesn't use other people's patterns, but they seemed to like hers, so she started a pattern design company which has led her and her husband, Dean, to many quilt shows, and to designing several patterns each year.

However, Mary says, "Much of what I do is intuitive, and/or depends on the fabrics I have available, therefore I cannot draw that on paper."

Of her wall-hanging near the front door, a challenge quilt named "Spirits in the Wind," Mary says:

"A brave would be sitting high above a canyon, praying to the horse spirits in the sky. But every viewer could have a different story. Perhaps the young brave was praying for a horse of his own, or perhaps some of the older braves had ridden away in a hunting party or a war party and had never returned. Then again, a lot of people see the figure on the rocks as a girl, who might be praying to the spirits for the return of someone special who had ridden away with a raiding party.

"The viewer, however, almost always sees the horses as spirit horses, and the figure to be communicating with them from his/her perch high above the canyon floor. I worked for several months on the design, developing the idea I wanted to portray. This quilt did win the first-place award in that challenge and was worth the time spent on it."

Of all of Mary's quilts, "Valley River Geese" is one of her favorites, a work that started as a slide (photograph) when she lived near Eugene.

"I got up early to take pictures along the river at sunrise," she said, "and captured a scene that I made into a pictorial quilt some 10 years later."

Mary's love of quilting came as natural as breathing. She was born at a time and into a family that made everything from scratch: clothing, meals from the garden, and quilts.

"It was just the way my family lived," she said.

On top of that, she always had the eye of an artist, just like her mother, grandmother, and aunts.

When she was planning on getting married, she saw the picture of a beautiful quilt in a farm magazine and had to make it. With her mother's help she did just that, but with innovations. She drew the patterns, and being the artist she is, created a few new ones to replace those she couldn't see in the picture - 20 blocks or so of them, all different, red, green and black and all hand-appliquéed.

When she moved to Sisters, quilting was everywhere. She took a class, joined up with neighbors who quilted and found a group in Bend.

"But being the independent person I am," she said, "I did my own thing."

Mary's "other thing" is photography, especially birds. The two - photography and quilting - fit together very well. Now she produces original quilts, usually wall-hanging size, and some based on her photos.

Smith doesn't use other people's patterns, but they seemed to like hers, so she started a pattern design company which has led her and her husband, Dean, to many quilt shows, and to designing several patterns each year.

However, Mary says, "Much of what I do is intuitive, and/or depends on the fabrics I have available, therefore I cannot draw that on paper."