Mary Mendla is a painter, textile surface design artist, apparel designer, and art instructor.
Her textile work is done primarily in the techniques of Shibori, a bound resist dye process, and hand painting of dyes to create one of a kind textiles. She often combines these techniques with methods of texturing such as devore’ (burn-out) and heat treatment to create permanent three-dimensional form to enhance the color washes and patterns on her textiles.
Her garments are created of natural fibers, primarily rayon jersey, linen, and silk. Styles are softly structured for comfort and appealing fit for all body types in sizes from Misses Extra-Small to Women’s 2X.
Mary also creates 2-D fiber art and sculptural wall hangings using the techniques of Shibori and heat set texture in silk. These abstract works of art are inspired by the natural world especially water, forests and trees, and back-lit horizons.
Mary works out of her studio in Thiensville where she also creates abstract paintings in oil and cold wax and teaches workshops in fiber art and painting. She is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee where she earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in painting and drawing with a minor focus on fiber arts.
Mary is a member of the Wisconsin Designer Crafts Council, the League of Milwaukee Artists, the Cedarburg Artists Guild, and the Milwaukee Artists Resource Network
