Sitting at my sewing machine, I am calmed by its sound. It is a reassuring sound from the distant past. My mother supported the family with a machine like this so it is not coincidental that I have come to be sitting here. I think of the material of life. Fabric being made into clothing, to conceal: drapery, to keep things out; fashion, to define and refine. 

Having spent most of my life painting I have come to realize that canvas is fabric. Adding traditional women's skills and a sewing machine to my paints and brushes, I paint and sew canvas to create the structure. Working with acrylic paint, darts, tucks and shiring my pieces are 3- dimensional; they hang and drape. 

The medium is the message, the thematic thread of my work is vulnerability. As I paint and sew, I am aware of all those who have always sewn, always created with pieces of cloth. I think of those in the past and present who clothe and support so many. I hope to do them justice to them. 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                           Gail  Miller