Artist Statement

Terri Todd is a contemporary fiber artist currently exploring mental health topics and hope through hooked textile compositions. She seeks to present emotional subject matter in images that are bold and simplified to their essence through line, shape, and color, yet made approachable through the comforting texture of fiber.

mental health series

  • "Spiraling" hooked wool 48" x 48"

  • "ImBalanced" 72" x 72" hooked wool, encaustic, led lights

  • "ImBalanced" detail

  • "Life Is Waiting for You" (work in progress)

  • "Empowered" (work in progress)

evolution

  • Spiral Sun

  • Bluebird Handbag (front)

  • Bluebird Handbag (back)

  • Dripping Chakras

  • Peace Fraktur

explorations

  • "Hope Overcomes Fear" hooked strips of trash bags, hand-dyed yarn, 8"x8"

  • Encaustic on Wool, LED lights. (detail of "ImBalanced")

  • Encaustic wool with pastels

  • "Hang in There" standing wool (or quilling) technique

  • "Hang in There" detail

  • Paisley Texture

  • Paisley Texture detail

process

  • I started with an original design from an old sketchbook.

  • I use a projector to enlarge pattern onto newsprint taped to sliding glass door.

  • Linen is placed over paper pattern and a Sharpie is used to trace the image onto the linen backing.

  • Natural wool yardage is dyed.

  • Stack of 1/4-yard pieces of dyed wool, ironed and ready to be cut into strips.

  • To get precise 1/4-inch-wide strips of wool, I use a die-cut machine.

  • Tools I use for the rug hooking process: frame, hook, and bent scissors.

  • Hook design one loop at a time. Satisfaction is the result as the loops come together to create the image.

  • Sometimes mistakes are made. Just pull out the problematic wool strips, make necessary changes, and rehook the section.

  • Bind the edges. I often use the "show binding" technique to maintain a clean edge to the geometric style rugs.

  • ."ImBalanced" completed artwork.

About me

I became an artist when I stopped trying to make what I thought was considered art, and let myself create with the images that originate within me and in the medium that connects in a meaningful way.

My art speaks boldly in color and line so that you will be called to its message, but softens as you approach the warm fabric texture. As you take time to consider the sometimes challenging emotions portrayed, you will also find signs of hope.

In addition to studying graphic design in college, my work is inspired by outsider art, petroglyphs, and Keith Haring’s work.

My home is in Virginia, just east of the Blue Ridge Mountains where I go to the Peaks of Otter to hike and re-energize.

CV

Terri Todd

Invitational Exhibit

July 2023-March 2025 Stories are Made Loop by Loop Curated by Susan Feller, catalog produced

  • Virginia Quilt Museum, Harrisonburg, VA

  • Juliet Art Museum at Clay Center for the Arts and Sciences, Charleston, WV

  • The Dairy Barn Art Center, Athens, OH

  • Schwenkfelder Heritage Library and Museum, Pennsburg, PA

    Spiraling, ImBalanced

Juried Publication

  • 2024 Celebration 34 “ImBalanced,” Ampry Publishing

  • 2022 Celebration 32 “Spiraling,” Ampry Publishing

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