Artist Biography llen Errico Schon is a fiber artist living and working in Tampa, Florida. She graduated from the University of South Florida in 1975 with a BA in Psychology and minors in Fine Art and Literature. Always intrigued by line and color, Ellen worked in oil, acrylic and watercolor as well as graphite drawings. Since 1978 she has worked in advertising agencies in Los Angeles and Tampa where she received on-the-job training in Graphic Arts to round out her Fine Arts background. In 1985, while taking a leave of absence following the birth of her first son, Ellen was introduced to quilting. She was hooked immediately. The medium of fabric and thread not only offered the color and line, but also texture, pattern, weight, light refraction and the additional challenge of the technical aspects of precision sewing and embroidering. Ellen's quilts, her own contemporary designs, have taken ribbons and won cash prizes in local and regional shows. She has had quilts juried into international quilt shows. Her current work, "Quilt-Inspired Collage" reflects her years of quilting. Ellen creates her geometric designs digitally and "paints" them with real cloth, or scanned cloth patterns from her actual "stash" of thousands of fabrics. This unique technique allows Ellen to work with another of her favorite things - power tools! - as she cuts, sands, shapes and assembles wood and materials into dimensional wall art.