Renowned artist and designer Kaffee Fassett connects with readers in Dreaming in Color. Through storytelling about images of his early paintings, illustrations, hand-knitting, fabric design, quilts, needlework and so much more, he re-creates his bohemian childhood in Big Sur, Calif., his world travels and his forays into every kind of creative design.
His parents bought a cabin from Orson Welles in the 1930s and transformed it into the world-famous Nepenthe restaurant, still a gathering place for creative types as well as tourists who come to marvel at the view. His father was the business manager, his mother the visionary. Kaffe and his siblings lived ouside as much as in; his childhood was not one of cosseted overprotection. He was allowed to roam the acreage, encouraged to help the workmen and learned to work with his hands as an artist, an artisan and a craftsman.
He went to a boarding school run by disciples of Krishmamurti, studied painting at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and then traveled to England. From this eclectic background came his fascination with design, whether in needlepoint or mosaic, tapestry or rugmaking, costume and set design or quilting. His travels around the world inspired him to create different patterns, to use dyes and colors in unusual ways. He is the first living textile designer to have a one-person show at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.
Now in his 70s, Fassett's life continues to be fascinating, filled with interesting people (famous and not) and adventures and sojourns in India, Vietnam, Hawaii, Europe and South Africa that have exposed him to global influence in color and pattern. His passion for quilts provides a grand sense of scale that makes knitted garments seem too restrictive. There is nothing restrained about Fassett--in person nor in design. His creative energy flows through every medium in which he chooses to work.
Dreaming in Color, lavishly illustrated with 500 color pictures, is a feast for the eyes. The text, filling in the story of his life, is straightforward, with a conversational tone, giving credit to those people and events that inspired him--but always, first and foremost, filled with the color and drama that are Kaffe Fassett. --Valerie Ryan
Shelf Talker: A gorgeous look at the life and world of Kaffe Fassett in all its creative manifestations: art, quilting, knitwear and textiles.