Loretta Alvarado, Fiber Art

It all started with a moose head…

Many years ago a friend asked me to create a stuffed moose head to hang on his wall. I had made other stuffed animals before, so how hard could it be? I used my engineering and design skills and came up with a pattern. A few days later I had created a masterpiece. Well, at least my friend thought so. He loved it. So much so that he said, “You should make these and sell them.” Little did I know that this was the beginning of a new career.

I started out doing craft shows but soon discovered that this was really not the proper venue for the type of work that I really wanted to do. When I juried into one of the three summer art festivals in Laguna Beach, an entirely new world opened to me. My work was readily accepted as art and I as an artist. This was an interesting transition after a career as an engineer with no art training. Under the influence of all the beautiful artwork in Laguna Beach, my work became less of an exercise in precision and more of an artistic expression. I observed the works of some of my favorite artists and tried to emulate their techniques using the media of fabric and fibers rather than paints. Gradually, my own voice evolved.

My art has led me to some interesting experiences including several television appearances, ownership of an art gallery, curator of “In the Toilet – an Exhibit of Art Meets Function,” and being named one of the top Hispanic business women of the year in 2004. I have shown my work at the Laguna Art-A-Fair Festival; Sawdust Winter Fantasy; Harvest Festivals; Little Italy; Montrose Arts Festival; Oceanside Days of Art; San Diego ArtWalk; Mission Viejo Arts Alive Festival; a solo show at the Colony Theatre in Burbank; a solo show at the City of Buena Park City Hall; the West Valley Art Museum; the Page-Walker Art Center; the Bazaar Del Mundo Wearable Art Show; the Houston International Quilt Festival; and many others.