Marya Lowe jumped into the contemporary art quilt world in 2007, after more than 3 decades as a traditional quilter and professional quilt restorer. A single magazine picture of Venetian glassware sparked the transition. The exploration of and involvement in contemporary art became a time for reflection, in which she could reassess her life, her attitudes, her goals, and even reinvent herself, embracing the world as an artist. Exploring textile art took center stage. 

Her fiber works range from energetic, improvisational abstract forms set against calm backgrounds, to the semi-realistic depictions of chickens, fish, seedpods, teapots and other delights of our world. “Whimsical sophistication” is an apt description of her work, which may be machine pieced, fused, or both. Working in series allows her to explore different facets of the same topic.  Commercially printed cottons, silks, hand-dyed fabrics, second-hand clothing, vintage fabrics, and occasionally even beads, decorative threads, yarns, and paint all appear in her work.