Adrien Rothschild was born in Baltimore and exhibited her paintings and photographs locally in the 1970s. She received a B.A. in Biology from The Johns Hopkins University in 1978. Diploma in hand, she began her first quilt, solely for practical use. After several years working as a bicycle mechanic she turned to quiltmaking full time in 1985. She entered her first national juried quilt show in 1989 and won second prize. Since then her work has appeared in over forty shows nationwide, in Europe and Japan, winning numerous awards. Her work appears regularly in periodicals and in private and corporate collections.
In 1991, she won the Palm Beach Quilt Fest in West Palm Beach Florida.
“I began the intuitive study of color in a series of gouache paintings in 1969. In 1978, I turned to quiltmaking, entranced by the dazzling optical effects I had seen in Amish quilts. My early works in fabric were strictly geometric, repeat block designs in graduated colors, with which I learned construction and design skills. After several bicycle camping trips in the moutains of New Zealand, Canada and West Virginia, I have turned to portraying the theme of tree-covered mountains in my work, while continuing to play with colors. The two major influences on my work are the paintings of my mother Amalie Rothschild and the tesselated designs of M.C. Escher.
Perhaps my eye for light and color derives from my neurophysicology. I suffer with Seasonal Affective Disorder, becoming depressed and anergic in the absence of light. Light makes me happy and I delight in color play when designing my quilts.”
Source: https://americanart.si.edu/whc/whc-noframe.html?/whc/rothschild.html