About the artist:

harlotte grew up in Springfield, Ohio. She worked at Wright-Patterson AFT. She attended Wittenberg College in Springfield as an art major and graduated from the Central Academy of Commercial Art in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1951. She worked in Detroit, Mich., Chicago, Ill., and San Francisco, Calif., as a graphic designer specializing in package design. She worked at Dickens, Inc. and Raymond Loewy in Chicago and at Walter Landor Associates in San Francisco. The latter studio occupied a restored ferryboat on San Francisco Bay. Skiing, bicycling, hiking and camping brought Charlotte west in 1957 to be near the Sierra Nevada mountains and the many national parks. In the mid 1960’s, she added appliqué and quilt designer to her career. Her craft ideas for embroidery and appliqué were published in Better Homes and Gardens, Family Circle and other magazines. She later became an author, teacher, lecturer and award-winning exhibitor of art quilts. She became known for her study of the mola appliqué work of the Kuna Indians of Panama. She had five books published on appliqué and the mola technique. Charlotte traveled to the San Blas Islands, Panama, six times, staying with a Kuna Indian family to learn about their lifestyle and techniques. Other travels took her to Europe on a bicycle tour and to Greece, Spain, Morocco, Turkey, Guatemala and Mexico. She was an avid reader and enthusiastic crostic word puzzle solver. Charlotte married Charles Patera in 1960 and they moved to Mill Valley, and later to San Anselmo, Calif. They both enjoyed active outdoor activities and trips, camping in the summer and skiing in the winter. They divorced in 1978. They had no children. She moved to Novato, Calif., and then she and Charles got back together in 1989 and moved to Grass Valley, Calif., where they remained until 2009 when they moved to Ponte Palmero in Cameron Park, California.