"Here, take these. I don't know what to do with them".

With those words an artist friend thrust a large box of industrial sewing threads spools into my hands. Little did I know that that simple action in a moment in time would alter my life dramaticly.

I had been an installation artist, creating large room sized constructions like theatre sets that the viewer would enter and interact with. Eerie, creepy, shadowy psychological fun houses. Then a box of sewing thread spools enters my life and a transformation begins. Slow at first, like the crawl of tectonic plates. Then gathering momentum over time... a stroll, a brisk walk, a jog, a sprint. Suddenly, sewing thread is my primary medium for artistic expression. That was 25 years ago. To this day it has not grown stale.

I began my exploration of the world of creative art in my mid-thirties, taking seven years to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree in studio art at San Francisco State University, and a Master of Fine Arts degree in sculpture at the San Francisco Art Institute. I then spent the next seven years forgetting everything I learned in art school. That's when the real work began, and soon after sewing thread entered my life. Apparently, it was all necessary.

Jeff Richards

Artist bio: Jeff Richards is a local artist creating complex geometric webs of thread that evoke portals, the cosmos, and the ethereal. He started his artistic career at age 35 and since then has become an integral part of the creative community in Denver. In addition to the fine art he creates in his studio located in the Blue Silo building, he has supported countless artists as a professional installer. In fact, through his work as an art handler, he has helped install hundreds of artworks here at Children’s Hospital Colorado.

Jeff Richards es un artista local que crea complejas redes geométricas de hilo que evocan portales, el cosmos y lo etéreo. Comenzó su carrera artística a los 35 años y, desde entonces, se ha convertido en una parte integral de la comunidad creativa de Denver. Además de las bellas artes que crea en su estudio, ubicado en el edificio Blue Silo, ha apoyado a innumerables artistas como instalador profesional. De hecho, a través de su trabajo como manipulador de arte, ha ayudado a instalar cientos de obras de arte aquí en el Hospital Infantil de Colorado.