Kim Brownell got hooked on quilts and fiber the first time she picked up a piece of fabric.

Her first piece was a quilted coat called Penguins Paradise, made in 1993. Even now, three decades later, she isn’t sure where her creative side comes from. Her mother and grandmother didn’t sew or quilt.

This much Brownell knows: she’s the Wacky Doodle Quilter, a self-given name that describes the artist and her work in various mediums.

“I just decided to start sewing,” Brownell says. “I did not come from a family of sewists or quilters. My mom is an outdoors woman. I picked up a used machine and started taking classes and learned basic sewing and then started quilting.”

Inside Pocket August 2026

At age 80, Sacramento artist Suzanne Adan still delights in unsettling people gently, mischievously, and with wit and humor. Her retrospective exhibition, “I’m No Spring Chicken,” through Oct. 11 at the Crocker Art Museum, celebrates a career that spans five decades and establishes Adan as one of the region’s most important artists.

Inside Land Park August 2026

At age 80, Sacramento artist Suzanne Adan still delights in unsettling people gently, mischievously, and with wit and humor. Her retrospective exhibition, “I’m No Spring Chicken,” through Oct. 11 at the Crocker Art Museum, celebrates a career that spans five decades and establishes Adan as one of the region’s most important artists.

Inside East Sac August 2026

At age 80, Sacramento artist Suzanne Adan still delights in unsettling people gently, mischievously, and with wit and humor. Her retrospective exhibition, “I’m No Spring Chicken,” through Oct. 11 at the Crocker Art Museum, celebrates a career that spans five decades and establishes Adan as one of the region’s most important artists.