My Process

I have always had a passion for color, pattern and texture. It started in my youth when I first learned to sew and would go to the fabric store and get absorbed in the many fabrics types. Then in the late 90's I discovered the process for nuno felt which presented a new medium to me – dye. It turned out I was more interested in the dyeing than the felting and that opened up a whole new adventure. As I started to create fabric for art-to-wear pieces, I found a love of nature and the differences in shapes, color and design and it still influences my work today.

Each work starts with a white piece of fine silk. I have developed a complex process of applying dye directly on the silk and/or painting with dye on a silk screen to create elements of design and pattern. I am an avid gardener so those elements are often inspired by leaves, flowers, color and nature from my garden and/or found objects from my daily walks. Once the design is created on the screen, I then transfer that design onto the silk via a modified silk screen process. Additional painting or surface design techniques such as the use of paint and ink, are used to get the final work. The silk is then processed for permanence, hemmed with mitered corners and made into a beautiful art-to-wear scarf or wrap.

Bio

Born in Denver, Colorado, educated in IT management, Linda Neel grew up with two absolute loves—textiles and horses. Early on, her passion for textiles was a passionate hobby and horses a way of life. In the mid 90’s she replaced horses with a garden.  Her then unquenchable thirst for textiles became an unstoppable creative journey of workshops and experimentation.  But finding her love of dye and silk as a true medium, was the game changer.  Her colorful contemporary silk scarves, art-to-wear items and wall art became a hit with clients, while also exhibiting and acquiring awards at textile shows around the country. She lives in North Carolina with her husband who is an artist as well. 

Awards

2020 Mooresville Arts 7th Annual Winter Juried Exhibit, Juror's Choice Award
2014  Abstracts Art Exhibit, Special Merit Award
2013  Piedmont Regional Art Show and Sale awarded Second Place in Contemporary Category
2012  Piedmont Regional Art Show and Sale awarded Honorable Mention in Contemporary Category
2010  Fiber Celebration 2010 awarded third place in Wearable Category
2005  Golden Threads awarded second place 


Juried Exhibitions

2021: Chattahoochee Handweavers Guild Juried Exhibit, Duluth, GA

2020: Mooresville Arts 7th Annual Winter Juried Exhibit, Mooresville, NC

          Intertwined 2020, Southeast Fiber Art Alliance, Gainesviile, GA

          1st Annual Fiber Exhibition, Kansas City Stockyards Gallery, Kansas City, MO

2019: Uncommon Threads, Fine Line Creative Arts Center, St. Charles, Il

          Magic of Wearables Fiber Arts Fashion Show & Market, The Museum at 5ive Points, Cleveland, TN

2018: August Featured Artist, The Cooley Gallery, Leesburg, VA 

2016: Fiber National 2016, Workhouse Arts Center, Lorton, VA

2015: FALC 20th Annual Juried Exhibition, Cary, NC

2014: Dimension XLII, Art Center of Corpus Christ, Corpus Christi, TX

           Abstracts Art Exhibit, Light, Space, & Time, Jupiter, FL, Award 

          Relationship, Hylton Performing Arts Center, Two-person show, Manassas, VA

   Cabin Fever, Bryne Gallery, Middleburg, VA

   MITRE Corporation Exhibit, McLean, VA

2013: AWSome Art Finalist, Amazon Web Services, Herndon, VA 

           Art in The Burg, Middleburg, VA 

           Piedmont Regional Art Show and Sale, The Plains, VA, Award

2012: Piedmont Regional Art Show and Sale, The Plains, VA, Award 

2010: Fiber Celebration, Northern Colorado Weavers Guild, Ft Collins, CO, Award

2008: ArtWear Fashion Week, Lincoln Center, Ft. Collins, CO

           Aldie Mill Art Show and Sale, Aldie, VA

2007: Fiber Fantasia, Chattahoochee Handweavers Guild, Atlanta, GA

           Fiber Celebrated 2007, Intermountain Weavers Conference, Durango Arts Center, CO 

2006: Fiber Celebration 2006, Northern Colorado Weavers Guild, Ft Collins, CO

           ArtWear Fashion Week, Lincoln Center, Ft Collins, CO

2005: Golden Threads, Chattahoochee Handweavers Guild, Atlanta, GA, Award

           Fiber Celebrated, Intermountain Weavers Conference, Durango Arts Center, CO 

Bibliography 

Published interview in Leesburg Today, October 2018
Published interview in Artists in Middleburg Newsletter, March 2013
Published in the catalog for Fiber Celebrated 2005