Welcome to my world of fiber alchemy—a world filled with joy and creativity, with playfulness and pleasure. Welcome to a world filled with an ever-increasing abundance of art quilts, mythical figures, archetypal images, narrative tableaux—and much more.

I was inspired to start creating fiber art in Spring 2004. I was on a retreat at Santa Sabina Center in San Rafael, California, when I became enthralled by an elaborately appliquéd altar cloth dating from the late 1930s. Suddenly I knew I had to start making sacred fiber art. But how to begin? I hadn’t sewn since high school—and I was a cultural anthropologist by training, not an artist. Serendipitously, a gifted art quilter, Denise Labadie, offered to become my mentor; she soon taught me the basic techniques of quilting and appliqué.

Most recently I have been creating Humanabirds, chimerical creatures with human and bird characteristics, as well as Shape Shifters, including a Selkie and Ravens. I have also begun a temple-shrine series, in which each shrine will be dedicated to one of the five elements. And, finally, I have begun creating custom-designed “TechnoCovers”— fiber-art pieces to cover technology, such as TV screens or computers. Many of the Fiberalchemies are for sale. For information, contact:

Elyn Aviva

PO Box 32597

Santa Fe, NM 87594

505.986.9744