hard and soft, again

Cement works by Aaron King.

stitch and read

One good thing about me not having enough creative community, as of yet in my new community, is  that in order to make up for that intellectual void I have found the energy to read. I have been attempting to plow my way through subversive stitch for years now but never could and finally am currently less then 40 pages to the feeling of satisfaction you get from a great book that was difficult to read.

Next up either Extra/Ordinary, also attempting to read FOREVER,  or re-reading the poetics of space. The poetics of space was huge for me when I was writing my thesis but I feel it will be a very different book to me now that my life and my work has changed so much.  I have been picking it up and putting it down for awhile now, reading a bit then losing it in the bedside pile of books.  So maybe having a community void will have a good side effect.

recently read  quotes from subversive stitch:

By embroidering the virtuous widow she became the virtuous widow- for an embroiderer's personality was considered to be displayed by the form, content and act of embroidering.

Love could not be expressed sexually or passionately, but through the providing of comfort. Comfort becomes the Leitmotif of embroidery. Every stitch was directed towards domestic comfort.

...suggest that in reality the embroiderer experienced a profound lack of intimacy and intellectual deprivation. The need to believe in the domestic dream co-existed with a sharp awareness of absence. Women blamed themselves, shouldered the entire responsibility for domestic comfort- it was, after all, their social sphere.

from Aurora Leigh:

By the way, 
The works of women are symbolic.
We sew, prick our fingers, dull our sight, 
Producing what? A pair of slippers, sir,
To put on your weary - or a stool
To stumble over and vex you...'curse that 
stool!"
Or else at best, a cushion, where you can lean
And sleep, and dream of something we are not
But would be for your sake. Alas, alas!
Thus hurts most, this- that, after all, we are paid
The worth of our works, perhaps.

Prior quotes and post from subversive stitch:
here, here, and here.

laced graffiti

The Polish Artist that goes by the name Nespoon, does some pretty amazing graffiti/public art inspired by the doily.  I have always wanted to somehow translate elements of fiber onto the urban landscape. To bring the domestic and feminine out of the home...

Nespoon creates totally lovely large scale works of doily shapes on all things urban and concrete. I would LOVE to fall upon one of these in my daily life.  There is little info on the work or the artist but the images are cool enough on their own to make me drool just a bit....

See more,  tons of cool projects, here.

random thoughts, random image.

Today- I went out on my porch with coffee and yogurt in hand, giving myself "permission" to read Subversive Stitch while I awoke.  Then I had a flashback of the dream I once I had. Everyday waking up with the leisure of an entire day in the studio in front of me; coffee, lingering over my readings, my blog, walking to the studio, working all day, having one entire day committed to applications and such. Having the time and energy to go to the park afterward with T for an hour or more.

Now this poor little blog, barely hangs on, my studio is more then ever a practice of stitch by stitch, little by little, slow by slow not nearly enough time to linger and applications simply stack up unwritten and unsent, park time reserved for the weekends.

But at the same time there is a tiny part of me that knows this is good. My work has shifted so dramatically in motivation and concept, for me the maker, that I am totally excited as well as totally apprehensive. I know the work that will come of this will be more mature and less self-absorbed- which is a wonderful thing, I think? But oh how sometimes I miss that dream of a day being my everyday.

cool work...

see more.

carefully conserved

 

Works by Hilary Fayle

 

As I carefully select materials to use from the natural world around us, I in turn broadcast the importance of protecting and conserving our natural resources. Living consciously and sustainably is incredibly important to me in all aspects of my life. By using these materials to create, I am able to do what I love without treading too heavily on the eco-system.

 

and now doing installations out in nature. See more here.

metal and rust.

Her work just never gets old. So inspiring Cal Lane.

A previously written post on her work.

Friday Flashback-Anxiety

 

The Anxiety Series by Lindsay Joy was recently featured on Mr. X Stitch but I still wanted to feature it here. Her work is so incredibly honest and raw that it cannot help but move you.

And though I would not consider myself an anxiety ridden person I still can relate to every single piece in the series. In her bio she claims:

This summer I’m embarking on some...projects...and trying to terrify myself repeatedly so that I can function as a normal human being. I recommend reading her statement.

Not to mention that her style of stitching and combining images is totally fantastic.


I imagine that seeing this series all together could make a powerful impact and make you stop and think.

See more of Lindsay's work here.

Amazing work, emailed to me by a reader, by Walter Oltmann. He makes incredible wire drawings that reference lace doilies. Truly fabulous- the detail he gets.

From the bio at his gallery:

Wire is Walter Oltmann’s main medium for making sculptural works and he manipulates it in a way that emphasises hand-made process, using the linear quality of wire to create forms and surfaces through techniques that parallel handcrafts.

And he says this:

“I have made connections to domestic textile practices in previous artworks and continue to explore such forms of making in these works in evoking fragility and the passage of time,” explains Oltmann. “My work thus carries a very definite textile sensibility and I am interested in making connections between decorative ornament and subject matter that seems somewhat contradictory or disturbing in relation to such handcrafted embellishment.”

See more here.

hilarity guilt.

I had a pretty good, albeit unfocused, day in the studio yesterday. Almost finished with the high chair image, and feeling good about it. Now to decide what is next.

Also did a lot of cutting on another piece while watching TV this weekend.

So I did not feel guilty about not working in the studio today and instead scrubbing the floor of our entire home. Only an artist or writer could feel guilty about that, right?

cemented threads

Ridiculously talented Crystal Gregory has updated her site with new work. See it here.

teaser images:

Crystal I wish we could have a studio visit in Brooklyn. Oh Brooklyn artists I miss you.

i want....

I want to write, I want to stay silent.
I want to cry, I want to smile, I want to scream out with...

I want to make, I want to share-
I want to crawl into a hole

I want to dance. I want to sit. I want to sew.

I want it all to be alive.

our value?

I am not sure how I found the work of Jacqui Thompson if she commented on the blog, if I fell upon her google searching or if someone sent a link my way but indeed I liked what she was doing. Most of her work deals with issues related to the never ending balancing act of being a woman, taking care of home and family while remaining an autonomous and fulfilled being. SO hard. Anyway her stitching style if great and her recent projects are quite interesting.  

The hours quilt is a project done in homage to and in exploration of the many women who have chosen to spend hours upon hours stitching. She combines many embroidered tray clothes together to make the base. Another artist whom I eventually had to purchase a piece from also did this. I remember the first time I saw her do it- I thought it was a genius way to make a larger scale base linen out of all the tiny ones and am inspired to try it out myself -though the right project has not come to me yet,


“I dedicate this quilt to all those women who devoted hour after hour to the art of embroidery and stitch.”

 

What seems to be a current body of work explores the role of housewife and housework in women's lives. Exploring issues of its value and its complications.

She ends the statement about this work with this awesome Ann Oakley quote, or actually I should say not awesome but sadly pretty true at times.

“Our window on the world is looked through with our hands in the sink.”

 

She also documents her very lovely sketchbook.  See more of her  work here.

                                                                                                

swoon for sewing machines.

How much do you think I love the sewing machine series by Boston based artist KJ James?  If you said A LOT, you were almost right as I like them A LOT, A LOT, A LOT.

 I fell upon her work in an ad for her current exhibit and had to search out more. The subject is obviously up my alley as it is not only sewing equipment but also a banal object. Her style of drawing is both meticulous and labored as well as expressive and imperfect.

I really enjoy how she sometime shows the innards of the machine or "stains" her paper. It is really a wonderful contrast to her perfect replication in the drawings. I am sort of swooning. Reminds me a bit of this series.

All of her work is lovely see more here.  Maybe I should try to do a studio exchange with her I NEED to meet some artists here ASAP, I am fiercely missing my Brooklyn community right about now.