Artist LaToya Thompson learned to quilt at her grandmother’s knee and the process has stayed with her into her adulthood.

“My grandmother used to make quilts out of old clothes, anything,” she said. “She taught me to quilt. I was born and raised on a farm in New York State and my grandmother and I were very close.”

Her grandmother died in 1994 while they were working on a quilt together. She put the quilt up and wouldn’t go back to it. In the meantime, she attended Benedict College.

“I always felt I wanted to do something different,” she said. “I liked to be unique. My professors in college noticed me painting on cloth and asked if I quilted. That’s when I started back.”

One of her first quilts was dedicated to her grandmother’s memory and was called, “Heavenly Angel.”

The artist was featured at the Freshwater Coast Discovery Center last Saturday where she discussed her works and demonstrated her quilting process.

Thompson said she uses a lot of beach scenes in her work because “water scenes are very peaceful.” She said all of her pieces come to her in a vision.

“I don’t sketch much,” she said. “I have a title and I put it together.”

One of her works features acrylic paint on satin cloth, molted onto the canvas, and pictures hands reaching down from heaven on both sides. A couple dressed in white is standing in knee deep water and it is entitled, “Purify Us.”

Thompson said it signifies that a couple can work things out if they go back to their vows and to God.

“I’m not married,” she said. “But I believe a lot of marriages that end in divorce could be saved if the couples would follow this advice.”

Thompson, who now lives in Nesmith, teaches kindergarten and has been quilting and painting since 2001. She was an art teacher in Allendale County. She said she hates to sell her work because she gets attached to it. She has done about 12 pieces so far.

“It usually takes me two to three months to finish a piece,” she said. “I feel like this is my calling.”

On piece called “Divas on the Move” was done as an inspirational piece for young people.

“I’m not a club person,” he said. “But when I do go, I hate to see females exposing so much of their bodies. This piece shows well-dressed African American women having a good time.”

Thompson’s work has been featured at the MOJA Arts Festival in Charleston, at local churches and a show in Charlotte. She also travels with the
Heritage Corridor’s “The Connection Between the Carolinas and the Barbados.” She was inducted as an emerging artist at the Penn Center in Beaufort.

“I think her work is beautiful,” said Diane Smith of Edgefield. “She’s very talented and her work is inspirational. She can really help some young people.”

Grace Jameson, supervisor for the Barnwell and Edgefield Heritage Corridor, said Thompson’s show is one of several featured throughout the year that involves area artists.

The show will last through Sept. 15 at the Discovery Center. The Center is open Tuesdays through Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

“We had a good crowd come through,” she said. “At least 70 people by 1 p.m.”