About the artist

Contact me at Kendra.Biddick@gmail.com

My current fiber work is an exploration of inner spaces and distant places. My fiber paintings explore the human aspects of built and natural environments.

All cultures use fiber, often independently inventing similar techniques. It is a thread connecting artists across cultures and languages. Felt is the first fabric ever developed, and felting is the fastest way to transform fiber into fabric. Felting is a tactile, wet, soapy conversation between the fiber and the artist’s hands, and each kind of fiber behaves differently. Although I now use many kinds of wool in my work, my adventure in felt began with searching for ways to use the waste products of the alpaca industry-- fibers that are too coarse or short to be used in garments or yarn. I use natural colored, as well as commercially and hand-dyed fibers. Silk, woven fabric, yarn, paint, found objects, beads, and stitched thread add texture, dimension, contrast, and details.

Artist Biography

Kendra Biddick was born in Minnesota and has lived and worked in Clarksburg, Maryland since 1987.  In 2018 she was the winter resident artist at Pendle Hill in Wallingford, Pennsylvania, concluding with a solo exhibition. The exhibition, entitled “Listening to Spirit in Spain” was an interactive exhibition sharing spiritual lessons from her two-month Pilgrimage walk across Spain in the spring of 2016.  

Her study of art began in 1992 with an art class for adults given by her son’s elementary school art teacher, which introduced her to the joy of wordless expression.  After years of experimenting with more traditional artistic media she discovered the versatility and tactile aspects of felt in 2009. She studied felting, fiber arts, and design with Jean Gauger, Andrea Graham, Renate Maile-Moskowitz, Pamela MacGregor, Daryl Lancaster, Mickey Lawler, David Hornung, and a Potomac Fiber Arts design study group. She has also completed coursework in the art department of Montgomery College.  Since 2013 she has exhibited in Maryland and Virginia. Her work is in several private collections

Artist CV 

Kendra Biddick

Residence

        Clarksburg, MD

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Education

       2017-2022   Studio Art Coursework Montgomery College, Rockville, MD

       1996    Elementary AMI Diploma, Washington Montessori Institute, Washington, DC

       1985    MA, Biology, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD

       1977    MLIS, University of Maryland, College Park, MD

       1973    BA, French, Earlham College, Richmond, IN

Fiber Studies with

       2018    Renate Maile-Moskowitz

                    Neroli Henderson

       2017    Pamela MacGregor

                    David Hornung

                    Dawn Edwards

       2016    Renate Maile-Moskowitz

                    Mickey Lawler

2015    Daryl Lancaster

2014    Andrea Graham

2013    Jean Gauger

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Residencies

       2018    Pendle Hill, Wallingford, PA

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Awards

2022 First Place (Oil/Acrylic) Awakenings, Kentlands Mansion, Gaithersburg, MD (Juror Michael F. Shibley)            

2013    Best in Show Home Arts (felt), Montgomery MD County Fair

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Solo Exhibitions

       2022 Celebration of felting; Inner and Outer Landscapes, McLean Textile Gallery, McLean, VA

2018    Listening to Spirit in Spain, Pendle Hill, Wallingford, PA

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Group Exhibitions

2022 Spring Student Exhibition, Silberman Gallery, Montgomery College, Rockville, MD (by invitation)

COVID Revolutions, Artists and Makers, Rockville, MD

Awakenings, Kentlands Mansion, Gaithersburg, MD (Juror Michael F. Shibley)

2021 Creative Crafts Council 33rd Biennial Exhibition, Strathmore Mansion, Rockville, MD (Jurors Nancy Weisser, Blair Meerfeld, Andrea Uravitch)

Autumn Glow, BlackRock Center for the Arts, Germantown, MD

Shades of Spring, BlackRock Center for the Arts, Germantown, MD

Mysterious Delights, Gaithersburg Arts Barn, Gaithersburg, MD (juried)

Drawing, Elegance of Line, Kentlands Mansion, Gaithersburg, MD (juried)

2020 Spring Student Exhibition, Silberman Gallery, Montgomery College, Rockville, MD (by invitation)

A New Perspective, BlackRock Center for the Arts, Germantown, MD

Musings Over Time, Kentlands Mansion, Gaithersburg, MD

2019    Winterglow, BlackRock Center for the Arts, Germantown, MD

Best of the Art League of Germantown, Glenview Mansion, Rockville MD

Creative Crafts Council 32nd biennial Exhibition, Strathmore Mansion, Rockville, MD (Jurors Chris Darway, Joe Dickey, Susan Main)

Colors and Imagination, Kentlands Mansion, Gaithersburg, MD (Juror Gonzalo Ruiz Navarro)

2018    Shades of Spring, Kay Gallery, Black Rock Center for the Arts, Germantown, MD

Colors and Composition, Kay Gallery, Black Rock Center for the Arts, Germantown, MD

            Small Wonders; Miniatures, Bowie Town Hall Gallery, Bowie, MD (juried exhibition

            Paint, Passion and Purpose, Pendle Hill, Wallingford, PA (jurors John Margerum, Judy Ballinger, and Jesse White)

            Color Blind, Bowie Town Hall Gallery, Bowie, MD (juried exhibition)

            Shades of Spring, Kay Gallery, Black Rock Center for the Arts, Germantown, MD

            Spring Student Exhibition, Silberman Gallery, Montgomery College, Rockville, MD (by invitation)

2017    Fiber Arts and Artist’s Choice, Bowie Town Hall Gallery, Bowie, MD (juried exhibition)

            Winter Glow, Kay Gallery, Black Rock Center for the Arts, Germantown, MD

            Shades of Spring, Kay Gallery, Black Rock Center for the Arts, Germantown, MD

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Professional Organizations

            Potomac Fiber Arts Guild, Rockville, MD

            Art League of Germantown, Germantown, MD

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Technical Skills

            Word, Excel, Powerpoint

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Languages Spoken

            French, German

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Travel

            Netherlands, Tanzania, Portugal, Estonia, Spain, Great Britain, Italy, Germany, France