I began making talitot several years ago. My first tallit, “Trees,” was inspired by an experience of sitting in my backyard at dawn looking up at the sky through the trees. The fabrics used include a silkscreen design of abstracted tree shapes and branches made from a photograph of that night sky. This tallit is the first in a series of twenty four talitot, each revolving around a particular concept, such as landscape, and evocative combinations of materials. Each tallit was constructed over a fairly long period of time, with one material or section added in response to the last, like a painting. Many traditional textile techniques were used in making the talitot, including shibori, multi-hue and indigo dyeing, embroidery, and collage using antique lace and other vintage materials to create a harmonious whole.
Ruth Simon McRae works in in a wide range of mediums, including textile arts, painting, printmaking, mixed media, and ceramics. She experiments with materiality and layering by merging complex color combinations, pattern designs, and textures. McRae’s interest in textiles stems from a childhood surrounded by fabrics, from the fabrics in her father’s interior design studio to the fabulous clothes of the 1960s. She studied painting at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture and the Philadelphia College of Art and textiles at Philadelphia University. Georgia Tech. These degrees provided her entrée into the field of industrial textile design, where she has enjoyed a long career in the floor covering industry.
Ruth Simon McRae is an artist living in Taylorsville in North Georgia, USA