Carol Van Zandt learned to sew apparel as a child, and later took on home décor. Designing fabric opened her eyes to the wonders of quilting and now she designs her own quilts and is particularly intrigued by modern and improvisational quilting.
An exhibiting fine artist for many years, she currently creates design collections for fabric, and also licenses her art and design for paper, gifts and products in the commercial market.
She studied textile and surface design for three years at The Institute for Textile Print Design in California. Prior to that she spent ten years studying Japanese calligraphy and sumi painting, seven of those years while she lived in Asia. She holds a BA in Studio Art from Boston College and studied further at Massachusetts College of Art and Rhode Island School of Design.
Carol has taught painting to young children, as well as teaching botanical watercolor and drybrush technique workshops to textile design students. She has spoken on a variety of panels about fabric design and art licensing.
Originally from the northeastern US, she is now based in Oakland, California. She has had numerous solo and group shows in America, Japan, and Taiwan. Her fine art is in private collections in over 15 countries in Europe, Asia and America.
You can read her blog, The Plaid Portico, here:
http://theplaidportico.net
