The Creativity Project Week #12: Deborah Fisher

Deborah Fisher is an incredibly talented ceramicist, quilter, designer, and the director of two textile-related non-profit organizations. Deborah grew up making dolls and odd things and watching her mother sew quilts. After years as a fine artist, she directed her wide array of talents toward the sewing world. In 2002, Deborah co-founded the Bright Hopes Collaborative Quilt Project with her mom. Bright Hopes is a three-pronged organization that makes bright, beautiful, one-of-a-kind handmade quilts that are given to children living in foster homes and homeless families living in temporary shelters. In addition to making quilts to donate, Bright Hopes joins with community groups to teach sewing skills and make quilts to donate. The third branch of the organization, QuiltWORKS, offers on-site quilting workshops for individuals living in shelters, group homes, or other types of temporary housing to make quilts for themselves to keep. In addition to Bright Hopes, Deborah is the founder of Bo Twal, an organization designed to bring handmade dolls to children internationally. As if that weren’t enough, Deborah is the author of two books, and the sole maker behind the highly successful and coveted ceramic pincushion company, Fish Museum & Circus. Deborah lives with her husband, two daughters, three cats, and a bunch of chickens on Long Island, NY. Welcome, Deborah!

How would you describe your quilting style/aesthetic?

Deborah: Color saturated, utilitarian, simple, bold, and graphic. The quilts I design for the Bright Hopes Collaborative Quilt Project are a little different than my personal work. For Bright Hopes I utilize whatever fabric that we have, which is usually prints, and then design and pre-cut everything for our volunteers who sew the quilt tops. We make quilts for kids of all ages, girls and boys, so we need a range of styles. If we are working with community groups, we use a lot of squares and rectangles.

How would you describe the creative environment in your home as a child?

Deborah: We had a family room with a big round table that my father made for us to do projects on. I started my journey as a maker in that room and on that table. My mother taught me how to sew on her Kenmore sewing machine. There was a wall of built-in shelves with all sorts of materials and fabric. The fabric was stored in big, round ice cream containers laid on their side. I made a lot of dolls, which introduced me to a variety of materials, especially as I made clothes and accessories for them. Beads, fur, yarn, trims, polymer clay before it came in colors-all the fun stuff! My grandmother taught me how to knit. That is something I would love to get back to.

What artists and makers do you most admire or have an influence on your work?

Deborah: I admire so many different makers and ways of making. I am drawn to Marimekko, Gaudi, artist Charles LeDray, many, many, many illustrators, traditional craft, and materials and color combinations of all sorts. I am very fond of children’s books, cabinets of curiosities, yarn bombing and other unexpected public works, and wide ranges of scale. There are so many wonderful things out there!

Do you consider yourself a “quilter”, an artist, or some combination of both?

Deborah: I am a maker. I have tried on all sorts of names throughout the years-artist, designer, craftsperson, quilter. Maker fits best, although it doesn’t work that well in casual conversation. I am an object maker and idea collector. Where I go from there is based on circumstance and opportunity. I am an accidental quilter and an accidental ceramicist. Who knows what I will fall into next!?

Do you think that having a craft makes us more compassionate? If so, then how?

Deborah: I think it enables us to have more to give and to be able to share the abundance. This is why I started the Bright Hopes Collaborative Quilt Project. Creating gives a sense of fullness and joy that makes us want to share. When Bright Hopes works with the youth in our QuiltWORKS program, we help them to make their own quilt to take with them wherever they go. We are always amazed at how many of the kids want to make the quilt as a gift for someone else. A grandparent, a sibling, a staff member. These kids have so little, but they finally have something that they can give. And they made it themselves! There is a power to creating with your hands.

How does creating feed your soul/spiritual purpose?

Deborah: Creating IS my soul and my spiritual purpose. So dramatic, I know! But it is what I do, what I am good at, what I CAN do. It is what I have to do in whatever way I am doing it at any given time.

Are there any rituals that you perform to prepare/ground yourself in your work?

Deborah: Get a cup of cocoa, put on a good audio book or podcast, and GO!

What is the support system you have in place for creating your work?

Deborah: I am extremely fortunate. My husband is always on board for my crazy ideas. I’ll say, “I have this idea…” and before I can even tell him what it is, he says, “Sounds good!”. Sometimes I have to say, “Can you wait until I’m finished telling you about it? Maybe it’s a terrible idea!” Since the launch of my ceramics line, I have found sewists and quilters of all types to be incredibly supportive of my new adventure. Just the sweetest people from all over the world! I am loving the Craft Industry Alliance! Such a great community for information and support. And the women at Bright Hopes are always in my corner.

How do you deal with comparison to / envy of others? Can you describe a time when you used comparison/envy/admiration to push yourself in your own work and self-discovery?

Deborah: I think the key is constant evolution. If you are always working and growing and collecting ideas, you have no time or energy for the negative. Yes, it is incredibly difficult, and a continuous process. But the work of YOUR hands comes from YOUR heart, and that is worth fighting for.

What was the most challenging thing you ever made?

Deborah: The next thing I make is always the most challenging. Even if there is the seed of an idea forming, even if this is a simple idea for a simple thing, this thing is so uncertain, so amorphous, that bringing it into focus and actuality is the most difficult task. Everything I ever made is made, so now I can say it was easy.

What does it mean to you to work in a traditionally domestic medium that historically has been regarded as predominately female (aka “women’s work”)?

Deborah: The women I work with as part of Bright Hopes, as well as those I follow and know in the wider quilting and sewing community, have really shown me the power of women behind the scenes. We see so much about public figures, but the most inspiring women I know are quietly doing their thing without fanfare, and doing it expertly, and with incredible generosity and heart. Having two daughters, I hope I show them that it is all valid and all powerful.

How do you see your current work in the context of quilting history?

Deborah: Oh, I’m just going along, doing my thing. Right now, where I am in my quilt making, if my quilts (or quilt patterns) can make someone warm and a little bit happier, then I’m good.

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Thank you, Deborah!  You are incredibly inspiring, and it is wonderful to see how you are using quilts to make an impact on the lives of others.  To learn more about Deborah’s charity work, visit her websites Bright Hopes and Bo Twal. To learn more about Deborah’s adorable pincushions visit Fish Museum + Circus, or better yet, sign up for her newsletter to be the first to know when her shop has been restocked. You can also connect with her on Instagram and Facebook. 

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