I began weaving in the mid-1990s, but created my first artwork from cutting, piecing, and quilting my hand-woven textiles in 2006. This is a time and labor-intensive process that combines all that I love doing—visualizing, designing, assembling, weaving, sewing, embellishing… My work is diversely influenced by weaving traditions such as the Kente cloth by the Ashanti of West Africa and the Maya traditions of the Americas along with later American artists Anni Albers and Faith Ringgold. My quilted weavings are my interpretations of the lingual into visual imagery. Each work holds layers of labor, challenge, memory, and reflection for me.