Art over the Atlantic, Part 1


Honeycomb Five, 2013. 

Making art and exploring your creativity can be surprising. When 2013 started, I had no idea that I would be so taken with stitching into watercolors on heavy weight paper. Now I'm totally fascinated by this combination and I can see myself exploring and layering the two mediums for a long time to come.

Honeycomb Five recently made its harrowing journey to the U.K. 

Here is the piece I made for the fabulously talented Sophie Tomlinson for the most recent Phat Quarter Swap for Mr X Stitch. The theme of this swap was "five," to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the Mr X Stitch website and community.

Isle of Wight, 2012. Sophie Tomlinson.

I've been hosting the Phat Quarter swaps for about a year. Sophie made on of my all time favorite pieces, the Isle of Wight, which I received as part of the 1970s-themed swap.

WIP, Honeycomb 5.


I'm beyond pleased (and relieved) that Sophie likes the piece I made for her. I so admire her work... it was a little scary to make something for her.



Thank you for all of the encouragement and kind comments and emails when I confessed my blueness last week. I'm not sure what was going on, but things are much improved. Sunshine helps.

Sketching and painting new images to stitch.

Back to my creative life. I would may start adding new textures and imagery onto the watercolor pieces. In particular, I'd like explore layering in image transfers. But for now, more stitching and experimenting with these two elements.


My boyfriend loves apple cider donuts, so I baked him this
apple cider donut cake. Yum! Not art, but creative, edible love.

Next, I'll show you the amazing piece I received from Bridgeen Gillespie (a.k.a. the creative goddess behind Cherry & Cinnamon) that crossed the Atlantic to find me. It's amazing!

Blues

From my back porch. Buh Honeycomb, 2013.

Feeling a little meh these days. A little more isolated and alone than usual. Fighting the blues.

Buh Watercolor, 2013. Watercolor, paper, hand embroidery.


I finished another watercolor and stitching piece. This one with more muted colors. I like the way you can see the texture of the work when there are fewer colors to take in. It's a little more stripped down.

The limited color palette lets me see more of the texture.

The blues slow me down.


Work on progress.



But I'll rally.

Inspired by Nat Uhing

It's been a week since it ran, but I'm still so thrilled with the interview I did with the Nat Uhing of Smallest Forest for my Inspired to Stitch column on Mr X Stitch.



To say that I'm inspired by Nat... this is an understatement. She lives so fully and creates with such passion. Damn.

And she was incredibly articulate and generous with her responses. She really gives you a window into her creative process and a gorgeous account of what it's like to live as an artist.

One note: In the States I think we have a different way of expressing ethnicity. She describes herself as a Filipina-America, which I would take as an American of Filipina descent. (For example, we would say that a Mexican American is an American of Mexican descent, etc.) But that is not how she uses it. (She lives in Australia.) I find it strangely comforting that the world is not that small after all, despite claims of globalized culture, etc. We still use so many terms in entirely unique ways.

Spend some time with Nat's work on her website and flickr stream. This artist is beautifully hardcore!

More WIPs, more life

A glorious spate of sunny, warm weather. Delicious meals and conversations with friends. (If you live in the Triangle, go to Piedmont in Durham for some farm-to-table bliss. Trust me.) 

Painting and stitching.


WIP. Stitched Hardscrabble postcard.
 
A few works in progress.

WIP. Buh Watercolor Honeycomb, Watercolor, paper, hand embroidery.

I mentioned in an earlier post that I received some advice about using color from a painter who is incredibly skilled with color. I'm taking her advice to heart and trying to use what she calls "buh" colors, which are more muted, in my honeycomb watercolor stitching. So far I like where this is going.

Received a wonderful compliment today: Fellow fiber artists told me that my watercolor stitching looks much better "in person" than it does in photos online. They said that they can appreciate the color and texture so much more. This made me insanely happy.

As if Durham needs more whimsy!

I'm still experimenting with the stitching on my postcards. Here is a WIP of my first attempt.

I'm not sure where this is going... but I'm on board.

Chin up, girl

WIP, Stitched postcard.

So, the market wasn't what I'd hoped, but that's OK. I'm not entirely sure I'm a craft fair kind of girl, but I will explore other market options.

Painted shutter display for Hardscrabble & Wondrous sale.

Ultimately, it was a gorgeous, sunny day, I met interesting people and spent fun time with my parents and friends. So I can't complain.

WIP, Stitched postcard. Spider wheel in the sky.

It was only a matter of time until I united my Durham cards with stitching. Lots of possibility for fun with this. I kind of like this work in progress.

I will spend some time on this.

Goofy hostess selfie keeping my chin up.

And I will have friends over to my tiny home and spoil them with good conversation, food and drink. And I'll keep my chin up, no matter what.

dTown Market!

About a year ago I began taking iPhone photos of my beloved, adopted hometown of Durham, NC. Mostly, I took them to entertain myself while driving back and forth to bootcamp in the early morning hours.



I started posting the photos on Facebook under the album name "Hardscrabble & Wondrous Durham." (The title came from a casual description of Durham that my boyfriend wrote in an email. It was perfect and I insantly loved it!)

Lucky Sky, Durham. 2013.

Friends told me they like the photos, so I made little cards from them and launched a tiny etsy shop.

Hardscrabble & Wondrous Durham.


Now I'll be selling them in public for the first time at the dTown Market, this Saturday, 9/28/13, from 12-5 pm, at Motorco in downtown Durham.

If you're in the area, come on out and say hi. The weather is supposed to be beautiful, there will be lots of other vendors and beer. Big yes!

Making merch

Getting happily settled in my new home and getting ready for the dTown Market at the end of the month. I'm making merchandise!

Honeycomb 3, WIP. Watercolor and hand embroidery.
Not selling my handmade work.

Sunday morning newspaper in my happy new kitchen.


Sounds so weird. I've never been that interested in selling what I make and here I am making cards, framing prints and making magnets from my little Hardscrabble & Wondrous collection of Durham photos.

Making merch -- magnets!


As odd at is is to make so many duplicate cards and prints, it's kind of fun, too. And I'm designing a little selling booth on which to display my merchandise. This is an entirely new experience for me.


Painting an old shutter to display my prints for the dTown Market.


And I finally have time to get back to stitching. Working on some honeycombs in different kinds of paper.

Wonky honeycomb experiment on a loteria card.


Feeling super fine.

First selfie in my new digs.  I finally feel HOME.

The eagle has finally landed

Yes, I know that the disruption caused by moving is not the worst thing in the grand scheme of things, but still, it's a beast.

The view from my sofa. With my visitor, Luna.


Spent the last few weeks preparing to move, moving and then trying to settle in. 

The good news: I adore my new place. It's a tiny, duplex apartment, with high, white walls and orange painted floors. The backyard is a riot of mulberry trees and shade. And I'm sandwiched between my dear friend Kate and my new friend Martin, my landlord. I can walk to the shops and restaurants. What a different life from the grim, lonely, isolated, soulless apartment complex I lived in for the last two years!

Detail from Sliding Grid, 2013.


Slowly getting back into stitching. I finished another watercolor stitched grid. I will paint up a new batch of ground paper tomorrow. I received excellent advice from a painter whose work with color is amazing -- she suggested mixing in some more muted hues. I'm starting to experiment with that.

Framed Hardscrabble & Wondrous prints!


I'm also getting ready for my first public sale of Hardscrabble & Wondrous Durham cards and prints at the end of the month at the dTown Market at Motorco Music Hall. Something entirely new for me: Designing a display booth. A daunting prospect!

Sliding Grid, 2013.


And I was so happy to publish my first Inspired to Stitch column for Mr X Stitch last week. I interviewed the amazing Iviva Olenick about her narrative embroidery artwork. 

Iviva talked about her source material in my first column.


I can't tell you how much I enjoyed my conversation with Iviva about her process and sources. Please read it and let me know what you think. Is this the kind of piece you enjoy reading about textile artists?

All paws. Luna on a stepping stone in my back yard.


Finally, this weekend has brought the temporary return of precious Luna, the world's sweetest living creature. I've been babysitting her for my ex-husband. She goes home tomorrow and I'm already so sad. I'm trying to just enjoy the little bit of time that I have left with her, but I feel this great crack happening in my chest.  I won't let it overwhelm me. I'll rally. It's just that saying goodbye to her again reminds me of hard times... I don't want to ever feel that kind of pain again, the pain of my life falling apart, the realization of what one can lose. 


Detail from Sliding Grid, 2012.


On to happier things. My new place, my new artwork, my loving friends and family. 

I may be profoundly sad and lonely sometimes, but I can take anything. I'm stronger than I look.  

Scenes: From my blooper reel

Q:    Is there such a thing as too much color and too much pattern?
A:    YES!

Fresh set of holes poked, ready to stitch. Looks like Braille.


My pile of "not quite rights" is growing. But that's OK. I'm learning. The piece below doesn't quite work. I threw in too many colors and too many patterns. I was trying to work in more of a scene, with foreground and background activity. But I piled it on too high and it's simply too busy and not unified.

Blooper! I think it fell apart with the blue stars. Among other things.


So on to the next piece. Simpler grid. Simpler color selection. Trying to strike a balance between wild grids and doodles on a luminous colored base and composing different areas of focus in different places.

Brand new grid. Keeping it simpler. 

Perhaps I've dialed this one to too simple. We'll see.  Not much time to work on this this week because I'm moving on Thursday. Moving is a beast! But I'm very excited about my funky new duplex and the next phase of my personal life.

Ok, back to packing...

Scenes: Making marks with paint and thread

More scenes from my recent work with watercolors, pattern, colors and threads.

Honeycomb 1 (2013) Watercolor & pearl cotton thread.


WIP: Honeycomb 2 (2013) Watercolor & pearl cotton thread.

Right now I'm playing.  

Honecomb 1 (5" x 5"). 

Sketchbook grids.


I'm teaching myself how to do this. Several have gotten messed up. I have piles of drafts.

Playing with paint at my table. 140lb watercolor paper.

Honeycomb 2 (2013). This one got a little messed up. Oh well.

I know it's right for me because I'm having so much fun with it. 

So many colors, so many grids

How did I not do this before? I love the saturated colors of watercolor paints. And I love the texture of pearl cotton. And I love layering these with various grids.

Grid 1, 2013. Hand embroidery on watercolor painting.

Right now I'm playing and experimenting with painting simple backgrounds and grids.


Hex grid 1, WIP. Hand embroidery on watercolor paper.

And fortunately there are soooooo many options for both!


Detail, Grid 1, 2013.

In my non-art-making life, it's been a difficult week, filled with transitions and strange medical news. But so many good things and good people.

I'm about to move to a new, very sunny, funky duplex in my favorite Durham neighborhood. And to top it off, it's right next door to my sweet friend Kate and her husband Chris. Kate has amazing, sick skills in the kitchen and at the sewing machine. I will be learning so much from her! She has already taught me a lot about baking, preserving and serging.

I feel sad and full of passion, joy and life at the same time.

Inspired to Stitch - Launching a new column for Mr X Stitch

I'm very excited about a new column that Jamie Chalmers (a.k.a. Mr X Stitch) invited me to write on the Mr X Stitch website, a large-scale, international blog at the forefront of the contemporary embroidery movement that is celebrating its fifth anniversary this month.

Interview on Mr X Stitch, Aug 6, 2013. 


The new monthly column is called Inspired to Stitch. It will feature interviews with artists, focusing on translating creative ideas and source material into textile art projects.



Here is an interview Jamie did with me that ran yesterday on the big site. I will continue to write the Too Cute Tuesday column for the site (mind you, my sense of cute is a little... different.) Inspired to Stitch will run the first Tuesday of each month.

Please send me your ideas, suggestions, questions... I'm thrilled to learn more about your creative process and sharing it with the thousands of readers at Mr X Stitch.

And a tad nervous!

Watercolor stitching & a Tom Waits art show

I'm really, really having fun with the stitching into watercolor paper.

WIP, Size 5 Pearl cotton over 140 lb watercolor paper.


Especially the layering of a the stitched grid over the painted, 140 lb paper. So much more satisfying than stitching into the pages of my sketchbook, but I'm still doing that, too.

Saturday stitching.


Very excited to see the article in Art Papers about Aubrey Longley-Cook's cross stitch animation project! (Geeky as it sounds, I felt proud to see my name in there, too.)


Art Papers, July/August 2013.




Finally, how cool does this jurried exhibition in at the arc studios & gallery in San Francisco sound?



I think I need to design a piece and submit it. A show featuring Tom Waits-inspired artwork? Should I try??

Watercolor, paper & stitch -- Take one

I've been more and more attracted to embroidered artwork using multiple mediums. 

A stitch grid in my sketchbook. 


For example, Jessica Kelly is doing gorgeous work on vintage illustration plates. And I'm so inspired by the amazing lighted Tesla piece I received from Rachel Lynn Rose in the Phat Quarter Blinded by Science swap. (Featured in my most recent Big Yes! on this blog and picked up by the Needlwork group on craftgossip.com.)


A watercolor color wheel from a 16 mm film reel, in my sketchbook.


So, I'm making my first tentative steps with alternative media with these little stitched watercolor pieces in my sketchbook.

Sketchbook page.


I used the tutorial Jessica wrote for the second issue of the &Stitches e-zine as a guide.  (The e-zine is not being published right now, but past issues are still available. And be sure to visit their wonderful &Stitches blog for ongoing stitching tutorials!)

Slanty City, watercolor sketchbook page. Want to stitch this when
my skills improve. 

Her guide taught readers how to stitch on vintage paper. I applied the same technique to some of my watercolor doodle-sketches.

I'm really excited to explore this more. Keeping the stitching even was more challenging than I'd expected, but like anything else, it became easier over time. 

Random watercolor doodles to stitch.

Now I'm looking at every scrap of paper (receipts, junk mail, cardboard boxes) and imagining it covered in rich, textural patterns of raised stitch.

Go!

Gifts. And then art.

Several dear friends are expecting babies this fall, so I stitched up these simple, bright onesies. They are a kind of faux applique, made with Wounder Under and pearl cotton edging.

For Monique & Dan's boy.

I wanted to make them look a little retro. The stripes and colors seem 70s-early 80s to me. 

For Kate & Chris' girl. 

Dan is a DJ and music afficionado, thus the 45-insert symbol on his boy's onesies. Kate is a wildlife biologist with a passion for frogs, thus the little frog on her girl's togs.

Shazam!

And who doesn't love THUNDER! 

Plus, this bolt reminds me of the chest bolt on the hero of the 1970s cheeseball TV series Shazam! I used to watch the show back in NYC as a wee lass.



Can't wait to meet these babies! 

A family of my own and children were not in the cards for me, sadly. But I do love kids, so spoiling my nephews and the kids of my friends is something I adore with a passion. Auntie O needs her own special decal!

French knot obession continues unabated.

But for now I want to focus more on my artwork. So I'm back to this massive pile of French knots on a piece I haven't worked on in some time, a self portrait of my back (yes another!) called Shadow Spine. It's a lot of French knots, so it will take a while, but it feels good to be back to making something just for me.

Something wonderfully impractical.

Satellites of Sorrow


Holding the Nano-satellite of my sorrow by Iviva Olenick, 2013.


Last month I attended a wonderful evening in Brooklyn hosted by the artist Iviva Olenick combining two forms of art that mean a great deal to me -- embroidery and poetry.

Nano satellite of sorrow, by me, 2013.

Iviva called it an "embroidery slam."

Iviva Olenick, photo by Mrs. Olenick. I have a serious art crush!

As poets read (including my friend Kevin Kinsella) both novice and experienced needle artists stitched up words and fragments and bits of imagery.



We tweeted out pieces, creating a collection of found digital poems.



The larger project is called #BrooklynTweets.

I tweeted out lots of found poem fragments, including some of the language found in these two pieces, one by Iviva and two by me.

My baby is the moonlight, by me, 2013.

I'm so intrigued that Iviva and I sunk our needles into some of the same language and imagery. Especially the line about sorrow.

From http://wereisobesotted.blogspot.com/

Sorrow.

What does sorrow bring to your mind? Loss, sadness, grief. Pain and hopelessness. Despair. Regret.



Sorrow. It was such a huge weight in my life at one time. Overwhelming me. I think that, in many ways, it's something I've spent years moving away from. And yet, no matter how many good things one creates for oneself, sorrows from our past hover around us. Sorrows are our satellites, never escaping the gravitation of our lives, loves and art.

#BrooklynTweets by me, 2013. Oil and acrylic on cotton,
cotton pearl thread.

Whirls.

I don't live in sorrow any more. But I can see the streaks of sorrow, burning across my distant sky as the hurt whirls by, refusing to let go.

45-Record Insert Dress for a 21st Century Girl

I don't stitch enough wearables. 

Altered Gap cotton dress, 3T.


Seeing the beautiful, Los Angeles three-year-old wearing this little altered Gap dress reminded me that I need to do more pieces that I can wear.  She looked so fresh and adorable. 

Detail of appliqued 45-record insert. Anchored by pink chain stitch.


I made her this very simple design by appliqueing a 45-record insert and stitching around it in pink, pearl cotton chain stitch. (Her father is a musician and of my vintage, so the selection of the mid-Century vinyl paraphernalia was intentional.)

So easy. I must make more garments and accessories for me and for friends.

I've been having West Coast adventures for the last week. Lots of Stitch-speration! More Los Angeles fun to come...

Big Yes! Nikola Tesla by Rachel Lynn Rose

Rachel Lynn Rose is not afraid. Not of electricity. Nor insects. Nor boundaries.


Nikola Tesla, 2013, by Rachel Lynn Rose.


When I received her Nikola Tesla embroidery in the Phat Quarter Blinded by Science Swap, I could not believe my eyes.

Unlit.


The design of the piece, stitched in fine thread against a trompe l'oeil ground fabric, is simple and the stitching is perfect.

But Rachel did not stop there. She inserted LED lights to form globes in each of Tesla's outstretched hands. She even created rays around the globes with conductive thread.

Conductive thread around the LED globe.


I first noticed Rachel's facility with united various mediums in her textile art when she embroidered the top of a Coney Island hotdog container. So clever AND perfectly rendered.

And her collection of eerily embroidered insect art, Invisible Empire, is luminous and strange.

Nikola Tesla glows! 


She is simply amazing. Please spend some time with her beautiful work. I can't wait to see more. I'm beyond inspired.

"Big Yes!" is a blog feature where I share, with the artist’s permission, a piece of textile art that has opened my eyes to the possibility of what we can create.  When faced with things that are truly beautiful or moving or that fill me with awe, I try to say yes. More than that, Big Yes.

Paint, WIPs & Stormtroopers (just because)

The last few weeks have been more about experimentation with mediums than finishing art projects.

Painted fabric paper. Needs more glitter!

Mostly, I've been painting vintage fabrics, cotton fabric samples and fabric papers that I made with my friends Juline, Kate, Monique and Katherine a couple of months ago. (We used this tutorial.)

Oil paints on squares from a fabric sample book.

I'm trying out oils, acrylics and watercolors. I have an idea for a woven piece that I want to attempt that was inspired by the El Anatsui exhibition I saw a couple of weeks ago at the Brooklyn Museum. But I've never done this kind of work before, so I'm in the very early draft phase.

Fabric paper made with cheesecloth.

And I'm going through a French knot obsession, which I think most stitchers go through. Is there anything more textural and beautiful than French knots? And feather stitch?

French knots, ink, oil paint and stitch on vintage linen.

WIPs and sketches are strewn about my apartment. I'm grateful that my friends have not disowned me because of the chaotic mess.

An uncharacteristically monochromatic piece. But still, French knots WIP.

I was so inspired by Iviva Olenick's "embroidery slam" #BrooklynTweets. I've been finding poetry everywhere. And stitching a bit of it.

A found poem in stitch.


Last weekend, my fiber arts group Durham String Thing taught weaving at the North Carolina Maker Faire. The event itself was a little overwhelming... so much creative energy packed into a small, loud space. But my boyfriend and I got to try on a handmade Stormtrooper's helmet. That set my Star Wars loving nerd-heart aflame!

Stormtrooper O.

Stormtrooper A.
Warning: Attempt Jedi mind tricks at your own risk.

I'm Ready for My Close-up, Mr. DeMille

"I am big, it's the pictures that got small!" -- Gloria Swanson as Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard (1950).
Frame 11, 2013.

 Oh, you, Ru. I've stitched you on buses, planes and trains. In cafes and bars. With a needle in my vein during a 6-hour infusions of iron. In my own bed and in others. And you are finally ready for your close-up, dear girl.

 Frame 11, my first ever x stitch project, is on its way to the magic-artist-ringleader, Aubrey Longley-Cook, in Atlanta, to join its 34 other stitched cellmates in Aubrey's animated short video.
A close-up of Frame 11, 2013.
The video will premiere in Aubrey's gallery show at the Barbara Archer Gallery in September and will screen as a part of the outdoor art installation the Window Project, also this fall.

 More to come as Aubrey's bigger project comes together. For now, let me say, this has been a great learning process for me. My stitches are deeply flawed. Reading the chart was harder than I'd realized. My friend Kate, who is the neatest cross stitcher in the world and taught me how to do cross stitch, would be horrified by the back of the piece. 
Frame 20, by Nathan Sharratt, conceptual artist. 

 I'm am humbled by the complications of this precise kind of stitching, which I will try again. But for now, I want to get back to building stitches freehand, playing with paint and thread and poetry I found at #BrooklynTweets last week. (More about meeting the artist Iviva Olenick in person, soon!)
Visit Iviva Olenick's blog for more about her artwork.
I feel a bit lost and loose after this project. And a little sad... I'll miss the frame. And I'll miss working with Aubrey, who is a warm, hugely creative soul. 

 Ah well.