Leslie Tucker Jenison is an award winning contemporary quiltmaker/artist from San Antonio, Texas. A surface design artist for over 16 years, Leslie uses dye and paints as integral components of her work. In addition, photography frequently informs her designs, literally or by way of inspiration. She has been a guest on The Quilt Show, Quilting Arts TV, Fresh Quilting, and more. Leslie’s work has been the recipient of numerous awards and has been featured in publications including Quilting Arts, Modern Quilts Unlimited, and Where Women Create: Quilters, as well as a number of other books.Her work has been shown internationally and is part of corporate and private collections. Leslie is also a fabric designer for RJR fabrics. She is a member of The Modern Quilt Guild, International Quilt Association, Studio Art Quilt Associates, and is one-half of the curating-teaching duo that is Dinner At Eight Artists. Outside of her studio Leslie loves to travel, cook, garden, and paint. She is married and is a member of an excellent/eccentric family. Welcome, Leslie!
How would you describe your quilting style/aesthetic?
Leslie: I identify as a contemporary quilt artist: I tend to create pieces that embed meaning in an abstracted manner. Frequently, I include my own photography into the work.
Golden Summer of Love: A Moment at Crystal Pier. This composition is inspired by a photograph taken by Leslie during a morning walk on Wrightsville Beach. Image courtesy of Leslie Tucker Jenison.
How would you describe the creative environment in your home as a child?
Leslie: My father was an architect and structural engineer. He was a maker of furniture and was always puttering in his home workshop. In addition, my paternal grandmother was the town seamstress in the tiny little north-central Kansas town of Smith Center. She was a quilt-maker. I wish I could say that I learned from her, but she served as inspiration for me when I became interested in it later.
Lily Pond. A modern take on a traditional motif, this quilt is reminiscent of the wabi sabi serenity found in traditional Japanese gardens. Image courtesy of Leslie Tucker Jenison.
What artists and makers do you most admire or have an influence on your work?
Leslie: I have a long list! The people who come to mind immediately are Jane Dunnewold, Nancy Crow, Hollis Chatelain, Debra Lunn, and Libby Lehman. These women influenced my work in some profound way and I feel indebted to them always. I could fill pages with a list of those whose work I admire!
Leslie’s beloved Bernina 770 QE. Image courtesy of Leslie Tucker Jenison.
Do you consider yourself a “quilter”, an artist, or some combination of both?
Leslie: I identify as both. I am an artist who constructs contemporary quilts and designs commercial fabric. I push back at the term art-quilter: is one an art-sculptor, an art-painter? I know it is a “thing”, but it bugs me. Contemporary quilt artist better encompasses the type of work I make because I dip into both worlds: that of making wall quilts and useful ones.
The sink in Leslie’s amazing studio. As a surface design artist, the sink is always the bottleneck. When Leslie remodeled her studio three years ago, this was the most important change that she made! Image courtesy of Leslie Tucker Jenison.
How would you define “making with intention”?
Leslie: I love this question! For me this idea of making with intention is a sort of multi-sensory experience. First, it means being in the moment: focusing on the work and thinking about it, the physical experience of creating in sync with thinking it through and processing the design. I try to eliminate any distractions during the design process. My studio is very zen since I remodeled it: white walls with only the work currently underway on the design wall. The one exception is a piece of art I purchased a year ago by Eddie Colla, a well-known international street artist. It inspires me to be fearless in my work.
Another view of Leslie’s wet studio, including stackable washer and dryer . Image courtesy of Leslie Tucker Jenison.
Do you think that having a craft makes us more compassionate? If so, then how?
Leslie: I’m not certain this is a universal truth as I have personally seen some pretty bad behavior online between people who disagree with one another. I DO believe that having a creative outlet can be supremely therapeutic. I’ve personally experienced the beautiful generosity of the artistic community with efforts to help and support others for a wide variety of reasons: a health crisis or after a natural disaster. The artistic community I belong to always shows up to help.
Leslie (center) surrounded by her class when she taught a 2-day workshop about surface layering at Craft Napa 2018. Image courtesy of Leslie Tucker Jenison.
How does creating feed your soul/spiritual purpose?
Leslie: I am deeply satisfied (as well as challenged!) to make the type of work I am currently creating. For at least the past decade, the ongoing theme has been an exploration of the meaning of home and place on both a personal and macro level.
Nests & Vessels: The House Protects the Dreamer. This quilt explores the meaning of home and safety, both on a very personal and broader scale. Image courtesy of Leslie Tucker Jenison.
Are there any rituals that you perform to prepare/ground yourself in your work?
Leslie: Yes. I have two rituals that I bring to my studio practice. The first is a morning walk in my garden. I am very connected to my garden and it inspires me to stay in the moment and pay attention to the smallest of things. Anyone who has visited my Instagram account knows this!
The second one involves my entry into my studio space: I always thank my mother for giving me back the gift of time to be here. For the first six years after we moved to TX from KS, I was spending great portions of time back in KS advocating for my mother and sister as their health declined. Both passed away, my sister preceded my mother who died in 2003. So, as I enter my space I am reminded to never take my studio time for granted.
The wet studio countertop, made of lab countertop material, is where Leslie mixes dye colors. Image courtesy of Leslie Tucker Jenison.
What is the support system you have in place for creating your work?
Leslie: This will flow directly from the previous question. Without the support of my husband I would not be able to do what I do. There are no words to convey what his support has meant to me throughout the ordeal with my extended family and in my creative endeavors.
In addition, I have an amazing group of friends, some inside my artistic circle and some that I have known from other parts of my life, and they lift me up and inspire me daily.
Leslie’s faithful studio assistant, relaxing on her “thinking couch” which sits at one end of her design studio. Image courtesy of Leslie Tucker Jenison.
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?
Leslie: To be honest, I really don’t pay any attention to this sort of thing. Look: there is so much good stuff out there. We need to focus on the fact that, if someone wins an award or recognition for her work, it lifts us ALL up. When someone else wins an award or some other accolade it does not have a negative impact on me. Quite the opposite is true! Awards and other accolades are a type of validation for the work that has been created and it is lovely when it happens. I’m trying to approach my work from a place of curiosity and humility. I like to push myself out of my comfort zone because, for me, that is where the magic happens. So I frequently make stuff that is not successful. I have to wade through some of that to get to the good stuff!
Now, to the second part of this question: aren’t we all inspired by the work of others, to some degree? In that regard I hope I can be inspired by, and learn from, other artists and take that information and create work that is uniquely my own. None of us live in a vacuum.
Shibori resist hand-dyed sheers. Image courtesy of Leslie Tucker Jenison.
What was the most challenging thing you ever made?
Leslie: Much of my recent work has been created improvisationally by cutting directly into cloth. I think of my rotary cutter as a tool similar to a paint brush or a pencil and it thrills my nerdy little heart! The technical aspects of this work are so much more difficult than anything I have done before. I love it!
On a different note I find that designing fabric presents an entirely new set of parameters that challenge me. Since I work directly with the cloth using ProcionMX fiber reactive dye, drawings, and a combination of other tools I am always thinking about how to interpret a theme in a variety of ways while paying attention to scale, color, and value.
Leslie’s solids, both commercially and hand-dyed, are separated according to value. Image courtesy of Leslie Tucker Jenison.
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”)?
Leslie: There is an overall lack of respect in the art world for the quilt as an art form, which is ironic since all the same design considerations are used for this work and it is SO. MUCH. HARDER. to construct a quilt than it is to make a painting. And I say this as a painter! I’m not discounting the challenges that painters face but I can usually wipe oil paint off the surface of a canvas a lot faster than I can correct a sewn line that was improperly placed! I think of quilts as “2.5-dimensional” art. The textural depth of the quilting lines adds something so unique to the overall design motif(s) of the quilt surface. I wish I knew how to elevate the art form that is the quilt for the subculture as a whole… Maybe more shows at important galleries? The Gee’s Bend show certainly caught the imagination of the art world. Nancy Crow’s exhibition in New York heightened visibility of the medium of quiltmaking. What else can we do? I wish I knew the answer! In my dreams I see a major exhibition of contemporary quilts in MOMA. Why not?!
Leslie was surprised to receive a plaque to commemorate attending all five QuiltCon events. Who knew . . . like the SNL five-timers club?!? Image courtesy of Leslie Tucker Jenison.
How do you see your current work in the context of quilting history?
Leslie: My work certainly has its roots in quilt history. I make a lot of work that, due to the motifs used in the construction, are a nod to traditional quilt making. Each style of quilt has its own specific beauty and appeal. And I happily borrow from it all in my effort to make my own work. In starting out as a traditional quilt maker in the late 70’s and early 80’s I learned many of the techniques I still employ today.
One of the things I particularly love about working with textiles is that cloth is the second thing that touches us after we are born. We have such an intimate relationship with cloth in all its forms! The tactile appeal of it will never cease to inspire me.
Thank you, Leslie! You are an inspiration! To learn more about Leslie, visit her website, or connect with her on Instagram , Facebook, and Twitter. In addition, you can find Leslie’s most recent fabric line “Urban Garden” with RJR Fabrics.
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Yvonne @Quilting Jetgirl
June 15, 2018 at 10:00 am“We need to focus on the fact that, if someone wins an award or recognition for her work, it lifts us ALL up.” That truly fed my soul this morning. Thank you!
Gayla
June 15, 2018 at 11:04 pmDear Ms. Jenison, Your work does “elevate the art that is the quilt.” Thank you for this glimpse inside your creative soul.
lelandavestudios@gmail.com
July 16, 2018 at 8:26 pmThanks Gayla – so glad you enjoyed!
Bernie
June 19, 2018 at 10:39 amwow! another great interview. Like Yvonne, I love her attitude about being inspired by others and hoping to inspire. What a great way to focus on the talents of others and use them for good – this was a really good read Kim. Thank you for the series!
lelandavestudios@gmail.com
July 16, 2018 at 8:25 pmThanks Bernie! And agree – love the positive thoughts in her interview!
Lisa
July 1, 2018 at 8:16 pmMore wonderful inspiration. I love her nerdy little heart and I love the generosity of feeling for awards won.
lelandavestudios@gmail.com
July 16, 2018 at 8:20 pmRight!?!? So glad you felt the same way.