Arts & Entertainment
African Fabrics Make Cleveland Smith’s Art Pop
By Helen Silvis
Of The Skanner News
W
hen fabric artist
Cleveland Smith
started making
quilts in 1985, it was
because he thought he could
make some good money.
“I thought I could make
three quilts a week, but I
soon found that wasn’t the
case,” he says laughing. “It
took me a whole day to
make one block. And after I
made my first pieces, I did-
n’t want to sell them.”
More than 25 years later,
Smith still makes –and
sells—beautiful
quilts,
based on traditional square
nine-patch, and triangular
designs. But he also designs
intricate wall hangings in
colorful fabrics that seem to
radiate on the wall.
“Once I started doing this,
I came to really love the cre-
ative part,” Smith says.
“Every time I design a
piece, I try to do something
different from anything I’ve
done before.”
Originally from Vicks-
burg, Miss., Smith wanted
to leave what he jokingly
calls “South America,” to
Wall Hanging
try his fortune elsewhere.
He came to Portland in 1962
because his aunt, Rosie
Peters lived here, and found
work at a paper and packag-
ing company in North Port-
land. Now he has retired,
but his art keeps him busier
than ever, he says.
Fellow artist Adrienne
Cruz introduced Smith to
African fabrics, he says, and
he began to buy scraps from
local African garment mak-
ers.
Most of his pieces include a
thin strip that surrounds the
work like a colorful frame. He
calls this his signature
Dancers
“African fabric is my
favorite,” he says. “I started
with traditional fabrics, but
when I was introduced to
African fabric it quickly
became my favorite. It is so
colorful. You can do a lot of
things with it. It’s just more
versatile than other fabrics.
“You don’t have to worry
about matching colors
because everything works
together.”
He also uses plain colored
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Page 6 The Portland Skanner July 4th, 2012
cottons, Indonesian Batik
and Japanese prints.
No matter whether he’s
making a quilt or a wall
hanging, each piece of fab-
ric must be individually cut
out. Sometimes he selects
printed fabrics or panels to
turn into centerpieces, or to
cut out details, which he
layers on his designs using
appliqué. Most of his pieces
include a thin strip that sur-
rounds the work like a col-
orful frame. He calls this his
signature.
Smith does some of his
own stitching, but also
works collaboratively, send-
ing other pieces to an
embroidery specialist, Pat
Roach, to be expertly hand
stitched.
“See how small these
stitches are. She does won-
derful work,” Smith says.
So how long does it take
to make one of Smith’s
pieces? That depends, he
says, on how many projects
he’s working on simultane-
ously. He also prioritizes
commissioned pieces, he
says.
“Each piece takes a long
time. ‘Stars over Africa’
might have taken two or
three months.”
Smith’s fabric collection
has grown so much over the
years that he could keep on
quilting now without ever
having to buy another yard.
It’s just a matter of waiting
for the right vision and
design to come along for
each fabric.
“My grandma, before she
died, gave me some of her
quilt pieces,” he said. “At
one time, I almost threw
them away. But then I
thought she gave these to
me not anyone else. So I
want to recreate her pattern
and take her pieces and have
them hand quilted.”
Smith’s quilts sell from
$600 up, while his fabric
wall hangings start around
$150 depending on size and
design.
For more information on
Smith’s art, call 503-252-
2632.