New Work

The latest in the black fabric or 'star' series (I guess I could call them that as the star shapes inhabit 3 works so far). I cut the stars out of matte board and stitch through and on top of them, the idea being like gluing an object onto a canvas and painting over it for textural effect, in this case black on black (which is continually difficult to photograph).

In a previous post I talked about hand making multi-colored floss which I use a lot of here.

I also seem to have gotten temporarily possessed with pointillism.

I am expanding the use of collage and I think it will increase.

The human type figure took on a life of its own. It looks like an alien to me (unintentional). The face made from monofilament thread hovering above the figure looks to me like it is being 'beamed' from the alien straight into my brain (also unintentional). I nick-named this piece "The Alien Within".

Fiberart International 2013

Fiberart International is a triennial, juried exhibition sponsored by the Fiberarts Guild of Pittsburgh. I have two works in this years exhibit.

The exhibit will initially take place at the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts and the Society for Contemporary Craft from April 19th to August 18th. After that it will travel to other venues in California and South Carolina. I will post updates regarding those events when they happen.

The opening is on Friday April 19th from 5:30 to 9PM at both of the above venues.
I will not be able to attend but I hope anyone out there who can, will.

Here is a link to a story about this exhibit with more information:

http://www.popcitymedia.com/features/FiberPgh041713.aspx

'Hello World' Art Exhibit

I will have this work shown in a group exhibit at 'The Service Station at Riverside' gallery , 3160 Riverside Drive, Los Feliz, CA. The show is called 'Hello World' and is the first exhibit for this new gallery and will showcase fiber art as well as graffiti.

The show will run from April 20th to May 18th. There will be an opening on the 20th from 2PM to 10PM and will feature many live activities including music provided by a DJ.

The curator, Luna George has created a Blog featuring the artists:

http://helloworldartexhibit.blogspot.com/


You can also learn more about the show and gallery at this Facebook page:


http://www.facebook.com/events/172887319533935/?ref=ts&fref=ts


I hope anyone in the area will go to this event, it sounds like a lot of fun. Unfortunately I will not be able to attend, but please try to go or at least invite your L.A. friends! Thanks!

Making multicolored floss

 I love multicolored floss (sometimes called painters floss), but I could never find any that had the extreme color variation that I really wanted. What I really wanted was to have a single piece of thread that gave a different color for every single stitch. Eventually I realized I just had to make my own.

I bought some white cotton floss and a set of fabric colors and started to experiment.




 I found the best method was to simply paint the colors right on the floss with a thin brush. I also found that it really helped to hold the floss taut and in place. I used tape for this.


I painted one side then flipped it over and did the other side and also filled in any little remaining blank spaces that needed it. This took several days since drying time for each color was needed.

                                                                                                                                                                              

After it was done I un-taped it all, put it in a 

small pouch and tossed it in a dryer for about 

20 minutes or so to set the colors.

I was happy with the result. I get a different color for almost every stitch, and as a bonus many of the stitches have multiple colors in them - some with different colors on each end or sometimes split horizontally down the middle.

I used this 'homemade painters floss' with this piece and this one.

Hopefully this is just the beginning.....

New Group Show

This piece is part of a new group show called "Stitch Fetish" at the Hive Gallery and Studios in Los Angeles, CA. The show is curated by Ellen Schinderman.
The opening is Saturday Feb. 2nd, 8 - 11:30 PM. It will run until Feb 23rd.
On Feb 14th the gallery will participate in the Downtown Los Angeles Art Walk.

I will not be able to make any of these events but anyone in LA should check out the show, it should be fun!

New work

Still continuing to work on black fabric. The center image was taken from an old anatomy diagram, but I changed parts of it to resemble an African mask and I did some more improvisational changing. In the end it turned out looking like some kind of 'un-dead' monster or something.
I used multi-colored metallic thread with transparent monofilament thread layered on top in an attempt to create the look and feel of skin tissue. I also used some cotton multicolored thread that I hand-dyed. I will post about that sometime soon.

The line images surrounding the 'head' I made by laying down a bright red/pink/orangey thread and then stitching over it completely with black (though bits of slight fuzz from the laid thread is visible). This technique is similar to 'couching' but I covered the entire laid thread….. I think it's called a 'trailing stitch', I'm not sure. The black thread on top of black fabric makes an interesting texture.

I stitched the black fabric to black velvet and stretched the velvet onto stretcher bars.

Of course, the monofilament thread over the multicolor metallic as well as the black on black make a fun photography challenge. Seems I'm always making things that are hard to photograph, why stop now?

More new direction

I decided to keep with the general ideas of what I did in the last piece - black fabric, some three dimensional elements, more experimenting with the surface.

Featured in Surface Design Association Journal

The Summer 2012 edition of the Surface Design Association Journal has a story about Embroiderers in New York City. It was written by Joetta Maue who is also an artist that works in fiber as well as being a curator . She has included me in the article along with artists Rebecca Ringquist, Elissa D'Arrigo and Emily Barletta.

Thanks Joetta!

Full article above (click on each page for larger, readable view).

Exhibiting in Group Show - Pushing the Limits 2012

This work and this work will be included in "Pushing the Limits 2012" a Juried Biennial Fiber exhibition at Artspace in Richmond, Virginia.

The opening will be on July 27th from 7:00-10:00 PM and the exhibit will continue until September 23rd.

I will not make the opening but I hope anyone near Richmond will check it out!

Exhibiting in Group Show

I will have this piece showing in a group fiber show called "Home is Where the Needle Marks" at Pop tART Gallery in Los Angeles, CA. There will be two venues for this exhibit, my work will be at (Sub) Urban Art, 101 West 5th Street.

It is a themed exhibit focusing on the concept of home and is curated by Ellen Schinderman.

Opening reception (which I will not attend) is June 9th from 7-11 PM. I'm sure it'll be fun! The show will run until July 9th.

New direction

I decided to go 'back' to the type of collages I was doing that made me bump head-first into embroidery, except in this case on a larger scale. I made this specifically for an upcoming show (a first). I also wanted to concentrate on the flat surface more, like a painting. This one is stretched on a frame. There is still the concentration of stitches in the center like my previous embroidery work but there are also stitches floating alone, in space, and most of the fabric is left to be itself.

I experimented further with texture by adding stars that pop about 1/4" or so from the surface, as well as making suture-like stitches as if the fabric were like skin, and finally, taking clippings from old doilies and covering them completely with a million little stitches of smoky monofilament thread.

Black on black is a hard thing to capture in a photograph, just another hurdle in my eternal struggle with getting accurate photos of my work.

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New work

After taking a considerable amount of time on the last one, I decided to do a series of smaller pieces. Then I decided to specifically do a series of head/face/mask related images. I had seen a beautiful and strong tattoo on the back of someone and I wanted to reproduce my memory of it. I'm sure the tattoo that I saw looks very different from this however.
I experimented with the background by stitching 'smokey' monofilament thread over multicolored metallic thread. Of course the effect isn't shown very faithfully in this flash-photograph reproduction.

Exhibiting in Fiber Philadelphia 2012

This piece will be included in the show "Outside/Inside the Box" which is part of the International Biennial Fiber Philadelphia 2012.

The show will be held at Icebox Project Space located in the Crane Arts building in Philadelphia.

The opening reception is Saturday, March 3, 5-8 PM. I'll be attending.

Exhibiting in group show

This, this and this will be in the upcoming Art of Fiber exhibit at Workhouse Arts Center in Lorton, Virginia. The show runs from November 23rd to December 31st, opening reception is on the 25th from 5-7 PM. I won't be able to attend but if anyone is around the area please check it out for me and let me know how it looks!

New

This is the largest piece I have yet completed in embroidery, 6 1/2" x 6 1/2". Actually I think there is another one with the same size, but not as dense. This one is completely filled solid with stitches.
It started out with the central figure based on an image from an old 50's French cheesecake magazine. Then I had a flash of late 60's comic book sci-fi influence. Then a PBS show about chickens happened. Then all hell broke loose, literally. The human figure plummeting through the demonized depths on the left side is myself.

What I have been trying to avoid is too much use of a black outline on things to define them, to pull them out of the background. I want to make everything look 'painterly'. Adding a black outline looks too 'cartoonish'. I have nothing against cartoon imagery but I just want things to look more painterly. But I couldn't avoid using black outlines in this one.

This piece took too long. I think my stitching may be slowing. Maybe I have reached 'stitching Nirvana' and I no longer am aware or care of the passing time. Nah. Next one is going to be smaller.

Exhibiting in group show

I will be showing this piece and this piece in "in-organic", a group show of fiber artists curated by Jennifer Hunold at Collar Works Gallery in Troy, New York.
The show runs from August 26th to September 16th. Opening reception is on Aug. 26th from 5-9 PM. I plan on attending.

From the press release:
"in - organic showcases how fiber has become a dominant medium of choice by artists across the country. With innovative adaptations to historically rich techniques and materials, these sixteen artists are invigorating these mediums with new perspectives and applications. in - organic includes a range of works that integrate fiber with painting, sculpture, drawing, assemblage/collage, and installation, while addressing topics that range from the body to politics, memories to the environment. These textile works -- previously allocated to the periphery of artistic dialogue as kitsch, craft, or hobby art -- are gaining recognition with a captivating energy that is recontextualizing traditional notions of “craft.” The exhibition draws work from coast to coast, including California, Montana, Texas, Georgia, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New York."

Stitching in the Park

This is basically what I do on weekends in the warmer months - take my current hoop, needle and threads and venture out. This is Prospect Park Brooklyn.

Backs

I know I've admitted before that the backs can be more beautiful and interesting than the fronts.
Here we have, in order, the back of this one finished.
Next we have the back of this one finished.
Finally there is the back of one of them, not sure which, when it was in progress.

Interview at Mr. X Stitch

I was interviewed for the "eMbroidery" series (which centers on male embroiderers) over at Mr. X Stitch.

Thanks Jamie (AKA Mr X Stitch)!

Gay for Eagles Show

You can go here to see and purchase some of the work at the group show I am currently in.

Exhibiting in Group show

I will be exhibiting this piece at the Hotel Hadley Studios group Fiber Art show "Gay for Eagles".

The show runs from April 15th to May 14th at Hotel Hadley Studios in Siler City, North Carolina.

Thanks to curator and fiber artist Drucilla Pettibone for accepting my work into this exhibit.

I will probably not make the opening but I will be there in spirit!

Finally finished

This took me around 4 months to do, maybe more. It was the longest I ever worked on a single embroidery. I got so tired of it at one point that I took a month and a half 'off' and worked on something else. I think the main problem was that I went on top of the area of black thread on the right half with the 'invisible' monofilament thread, and it was very difficult because the monofilament got buried a lot. Sometimes it would take 2,3 or 4 stitches before anything would actually become visible. I explain this dilemma and other problems in a series of videos that I recorded during the 'making' of this piece. The first one can be found here and they continue on in subsequent posts. I also have the full collection (except the first one) as a playlist on youtube called "New Hoop".
Total size is about 5 1/4" x 5".

New embroidery

I decided to make a plan and do small embroideries (2.5 x 3.5 inches), one a month for this entire year. This took me about a month and a half. Oh well. I'll try some more.
This photo is thoroughly inadequate.

New Hoop video blogging still going

More again with new Hoop