About Ann
Ann’s Bio
First, Ann learned to sew, then she learned to dye fabric. In between, she earned a BA in Literature from Stanford University, and an MA Geography at the University of Oregon. She taught for the Peace Corps in Lima, Peru, raised two sons in Oregon with her husband Jim, and started quilting. Ann’s years of experimentation with dye and fabric have led to piles of quilts, worldwide travel, and numerous exhibitions and publications. Her collectors respect her viewpoint and her students admire her generosity and skill in teaching what she knows.
Artist Statement
The impetus for my work is the world around me – its shapes, patterns, colors and textures. I work toward a goal in each quilt I make, having a particular concept in mind that is sometimes specific, sometimes very broad. I use many different construction techniques, traditional and contemporary – determined by the content of the piece – so my quilts are often very different from each other. In making the quilt, I allow the design to evolve according to the physical processes, that is, how the dye flows on the fabric, how my arm moves with a rotary cutter, where the last curved piece ends, or how the last line of quilting makes the fabric lay. Mastering the use of dye on fabric has allowed me to expand the kinds of quilts I can make, and now, more frequently, the fabric I dye is itself a source for the design and structure of a quilt. I consider each piece to be a step in my growth as an artist, something I had to try, a process to learn from, never an end, but always an attempt to express meaning.
Solo Exhibitions
Group Exhibitions
by CONTRAST Apparent Contradictions, NJ/NY region SAQA, JUROR submission, 2025-2027
Fiber Between The Lines, NW Designer Craftartists, Pacific NW Quilt/FiberArts Museum, WA, 2025
Below the Surface, SAQA Virtual Gallery, 2024-ongoing
Excellence in Quilts, Fiber Arts Now, publication, TX, 2023
Author
The Contact: Sierra Nevada, Dyed & Stitched, 2017, AJ, Lake Oswego, Oregon
DVD: Color By Accident: Exploring Low-Water Immersion Dyeing, 2013, AJ, Lake Oswego, Oregon
The Quilter’s Book of Design, 2nd Edition, 2008, AJ, Lake Oswego, Oregon
Speaking in Cloth: 6 Quilters, 6 Voices, 2006, AJ, Lake Oswego, Oregon
Color By Design: Paint and Print with Dye, 2001, AJ, Lake Oswego, Oregon
The Quilter’s Book of Design, 2000, Quilt Digest Press/McGraw Hill, New York
Color by Accident: Low-water Immersion Dyeing, 1997, AJ, Lake Oswego, Oregon
Dye Painting!, 1992, AQS, Paducah, Kentucky
Selected Press & Publications
Books
- Apparent Contradictions Catalogue, NJ/NY SAQA region, juror’s essay, 2025
- Ulaanbaatar, Embassy Exhibition, US Department of State, 2024
- Excellence in Quilts, Fiber Arts Now, TX, 2023
- Printed and Stitched, CA Society of Printmakers/SAQA Exhibition Catalogue, 2023
- Art Quilt Elements 2024 Catalogue, Juror Statement, Wayne Art Center, PA,
- Art in Embassies Exhibition, US Department of State, 2021
- Journeys: Artists and High Fiber Diet, 2020
- Shifting Tides: Convergence in Cloth, Juror’s essay, 2019
- Art Quilts Unfolding: 50 Years of Innovation, Schiffer, 2018
- Catalogue Prestige 2016, Carrefour Européen du Patchwork, 2016
- Quilt National 2015, Juror submission, 2015
- Art Quilt Elements, Wayne Art Center, 2016
- Unique Insights, Fresco Books, 2015
- Quilt (R)evolution, An Art Quilt Retrospective 1979-2014, 2014
- Reaching Beyond, NW Designer Craftsmen at 60, 2014
- 1000 Artisan Textiles, Quarry Books, 2010
- The Best of Contemporary Quilts, Lark Books, 2009
- Exploring Multiple Dimensions, The Albuquerque Museum of Art, 2007
- Suave 2, Asociación de Creadores Textiles de Madrid, 2006
- Art Quilts: A Celebration, Lark Books, 2005
- Rooted in Tradition: Art Quilts from the Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum, 2005
- Von Der Krämgasse Zur Quiltgasse, 2004
- Looking Forward, Glancing Back: Northwest Designer Craftsmen at Fifty, 2004
- Garten—Kultur—Landschaft, Neumann, 2002
- Oxymorons: Absurdly Logical Quilts, 2001
- Spotlight 2000, American Craft Council, 2000
- Silk Quilts, Quilt Digest Press, 1999
Articles
- SAQA Journal, Gallery, May 2025
- Art Quilt Elements 2024, Wayne Art Center, Juror’s essay, PA 2024
- Art in Embassies Exhibition, US Department of State, Washington DC, 2021 and 2024
- SAQA Art Quilt Quarterly # 33, Artists to Watch, Ann Johnston, 2023
- Arte Morbida, Interview with Ann Johnston by Maria Rosaria Roseo, 2019
- Art Quilt Quarterly, The Contact: Sierra Nevada, Dyed and Stitched, 2017
- Quilt Italia, Italy, Ann Johnston si raconta, 2017
- Fiber Arts Now, Ann Johnston: Quilting the Sierra Nevada, 2015
- Panorama, UC Merced, Grant Brings Sierra Nevada Quilt Exhibit, 2015
- Textil Kunst, The Contact: Quilts of the Sierra Nevada, 2014
- Surface Design Journal, The Contact: Quilts of the Sierra Nevada, 2014
- Quilting Arts Magazine, A Conversation with Ann Johnston, 2014
- SAQA Journal, Ann Johnston: Variety in Your Compositions, 2012
- Stanford Magazine, Quilter Ann Johnston, 2011
- Machine Quilting Unlimited, Quilting Any Size, 2011
- Magic Patch Reportage, France, Teinture et Impression sur Textile, 2011
- Lake Oswego Review, International quilter masters fabric dyeing, 2010
- Quilt & Zo, The Netherlands, Ann Johnston, 2010
- Patchwork Professional, Germany, Künstlerporträt: Ann Johnston, 2010
- The Oregonian, A Story In Every Stitch, 2009
- Surface Design Journal, Whole Cloth Composition, 2009
- British Patchwork & Quilting Magazine, Speaking in Cloth, 2008
- British Patchwork & Quilting Magazine, Golden Bridge, 2005
- Quilter’s Newsletter Magazine, Color as I See It, 2005
- Artisan Northwest, Blanket Statements, 2004
- Love of Quilting, Steps to Creativity, 2003
- Patchwork Quilts Tshushin, Japan, Ann Johnston, 1994, 1996
- Threads, Dyeing Fabric for Garments, 1995
- Japan: Patchwork Quilt #56, Dye Painting, 1993
Videos
- A Versatile Tool for Fabric Dyeing
- Beyond the Book – Paint & Print with Dye Ann Johnston – Video Trailer
- Ann Johnston’s Waves: Quilts in a Series; Shifting Tides Juror Talk – Part 1
- Ann Johnston’s You be the Juror, Shifting Tides Juror Talk – Part 2
- Ann Johnston’s Color by Accident: Exploring Low-Water Immersion Dyeing – Video Trailer
- Ann Johnston’s Answers:
- Ann Johnston’s Approaches to Design: Docent Tour at Bellevue Arts Museum
- The Contact at Festival of Quilts Ann Johnston exhibit in Birmingham
- Interview with Ann, Nevada Museum of Art, 2019
- Color by Accident: Exploring Low-Water Immersion Dyeing, Ann Johnston publisher, 2013
- Quilting Stars: Ann Johnston, Quilter’s Quest, WA, 1994
- State of the Art, Portland Community College, OR, 1991
Selected Workshop & Lecture Venues
- Alaska Fiber Festival, Anchorage, Alaska
- Asociación de Creadores Textiles de Madrid, Spain
- Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, TN
- Aya Fiber Studio, Stuart, FL
- Baylor University Art Department, Waco, TX
- Bellevue Arts Museum, Bellevue, WA
- Buffalo State College, Buffalo, NY
- Carrefour Européen du Patchwork, Ste-Marie-aux-Mines,France
- Columbia Fiber Arts Guild, Portland, Oregon
- Crow Timber Frame Barn, Baltimore, OH
- Empty Spool Seminar, Asilomar, CA
- Exposicion Nacional de patchwork, Stiges, Spain
- Festival of Quilts, Birmingham, England
- Front Range Contemporary Quilters, Denver, CO
- International Quilt Festival, Houston, TX
- IQA Europa, Spain, Holland
- Mendocino Art Center, Mendocino, CA
- North Carolina Quilt Symposium
- National Quilting Association
- Oregon College of Arts and Crafts, Portland, OR
- Pacific Northwest Arts Center, Coupeville, WA
- Portland State University, Portland, OR
- Quilt Art Rockies, Canmore, Canada
- Quilt/Surface Design, Columbus, OH
- Quilt Design Workshops in Kloster Rolduc, Netherlands
- Quilt Art Seminars, Falera, Switzerland
- Quilt + Art, Mulheim am Main, Frankfurt, Germany
- Quilting by-the-Lake, Auburn, NY
- R C Patchwork and Quilts, San Feliu de Boada, Spain
- Southwest School of Art and Craft, San Antonio, TX
- Stitchin Post, Sisters, OR
- The Textile Center, Minneapolis, MN
- The New Zealand Quilter, Wellington, New Zealand
- Wrangell Mountains Center, McCarthy, Alaska