Embroidery

Work for my solo exhibit here in December is coming along now.  This week I completed a couple of new pieces and got started on a few more, while some work is in that 'thinking about it' stage. 

'shell game' 16.5"x19.5"; procion on cotton with machine stitching

''Rainbow Shells' 15.5"x19"; procion on cotton with beads and machine stitching

detail from a piece at the 'resting stage'

In the evenings I enjoyed stitching some feathers for Jude's Magic FeatherProject.  

feathers embroidery on vintage kimono cloth for Jude

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

small purse I made when I was in high school

I love embroidering, and always have since my mom taught me how as a young child. 

detail from the bag above

The colored thread is like a box of crayons or my beloved Prismacolor pencils.  I love the repetitive act of pushing needle through cloth; the slow evolution of textures, lines, shapes.  
 

Visiting galleries and museums in Other Parts of the World embroidery has caught my eye again and again, incorporated in the work of contemporary artists.  I am drawn to the subversive juxtaposition of this traditional decorative technique with potent political and social commentary.   

This territory may be calling me to come exploring.  What new creative lands are you longing to traverse?

My Mother's (Bead) Soup

My mother and I share a passion for making things.  While I've been staying here in Denver, she has been sharing her wonderful bead stash with me.  I used her bead 'soup' and some remnant fabric to build a little bag for myself.

I ironed interfacing onto the bag's closure flap and drew the outline of my design. 

 The light on my beading tray is provided by a dandy little bitty Ott Light that clamps onto anything.

Here's the finished piece, which measures about 8x10 inches...

...and a detail of my beaded snake on the flap.

Slush Demands Color

All that beautiful snow is melting into slippery gray oblivion.  Town is rather a mess on foot or by car.

Color in the studio was the only antidote.  I escaped into my sewing machine.

K. has commissioned a pouch for her electronic book.  I curve-pieced a tree.

The lining is silk I picked up in Singapore on speculation.

 More rain is predicted into the foreseeable future - I am grateful for the color within!

Flossy, the Ravens and Using Tyvek Beads

Flossy had an interesting encounter with a flock of a half-dozen ravens up the 40,000 Road.  The birds followed us for quite a distance, swooping down over Flossy, landing several feet away and then launching themselves into the trees on either side of the road.  I was not quick-thinking enough to make a video but did get one pretty good still shot of the game.

I thought you might also like to see what I have done with some of my Tyvek beads.  I plan to market these little wearable bags at the Octoberfest Artshare coming up in a couple weeks here in town.  The bags are made with scraps of my hand-painted and dyed fabrics, finished off with the beads and a necklace-length leather cord.  They are the right size to hold credit card/driver's license or cell phone/I-pod.

 

Off to the studio in the morning!