Connie Kotke, Publicity Chair
This fall, the SaddleBrooke Fine Arts Guild (www.saddlebrookefinearts.org) is partnering with the SaddleBrooke Fiber Arts Club to offer a wide range of classes for beginners to experts—right here in the Topaz Room in the Arts & Crafts Center at MountainView Clubhouse. Our instructors are remarkably talented, and they love to teach! This month we highlight Varda Main, a co-founder of the Fiber Arts Club.
Q: What can you tell us about your artistic journey?
A: I don’t ever remember not doing fiber arts! I acquired my early skills in kindergarten, with guidance from my mom and aunt. My love for fiber arts stayed in the background through graduate school, motherhood, and my career. Upon retiring in 2007, I started to devote much of my time to this art and joined the local fiber art guilds in various communities.
Q: How long have you lived in this area?
A: We spent four years in New Mexico where I fell in love with the Southwest. We found SaddleBrooke in 2018 as we searched for an active, intellectually stimulating community with easy access to hiking. I have a wonderful studio in my home, with sewing machines, accessories, fabric, and yarn stashed all around me. It’s my happy place! In 2019 Carol Ann Small and I founded the SaddleBrooke Fiber Arts Club, which continues to grow and is a great source of inspiration and community for me.
Q: What is your philosophy about teaching?
A: I believe that everyone is talented and creative in their own way. The instructor’s role is to help draw that out. There are no mistakes; there are only new design opportunities. In fact, my own design process is organic. My creations evolve as the fabrics, yarns, and other fibers speak to me.
Q: What else is interesting or unique about you?
A: My life so far has never been dull! I started out as a performing harpsichordist in which it’s very difficult to make a living. I returned to university as a geology major with a minor in math. After working as a research scientist, my career migrated to intellectual property management and technology licensing.
Q: Where can we find your work?
A: Please contact me at [email protected] to inquire about work that’s for sale. I’m also a member of the Northwest Tucson Art Quilters, the Studio Art Quilt Associates, and the Tucson Quilt Guild.