Featured on Hand Embroidery Network

Link:
http://handembroiderynetwork.blogspot.com/2010/04/mythological-beasts-tod-hensley.html

Thanks Sarah!

Featured on Additions Style blog

I was asked to guest-blog. Thanks Additions Style!

http://additionsstyle.blogspot.com/2010/03/artist-to-inspire-flying-haystacks.html

Black in Progress

Ahh, black fabric. I been waitin' for this!.....

Ah yes, the majesty of black fabric.....

(can't make up my mind how to start this post).....

How about -

Black fabric - it doesn't suck...... metallic thread will pop on this......the contrast, the glistening, the joy! The continuing problem of difficulty photographing, hurrah!.....

Some time back I was coveting a book of African peoples who had their faces and bodies adorned with beautiful pigments and leaves, etc. A friend bought it for me (thanks friend!). I used that book as a reference for some of the faces (I think they are more than obvious).

To the far left (when looking at the entire hoop) is the Fertility Goddess, or Idol (not sure which exactly). I was trying to make an overtly sexual female image, but the 'Goddess/Idol' came out instead, putting me in my place, as if to teach me not to take the concept of human female sexuality so frivolously. I'm humbled.

The 'ghost-like' face in the middle was sewn on top of other stitches. I wanted to have an even more transparent, layered effect than what resulted. Maybe next time, if possible. Hey - can I get transparent floss anywhere?

The rule to this hoop was 'if I feel trapped, stop and do something else'. Now I feel so free, I'm losing my momentum. Well, I wanted to play more with cutting and re-assembling sections together. I think that's what I'll do next, or maybe just make a bunch of smaller images like I did with the other large hoop.

The face on the far right, made with lots of tiny metallic stitches looks like its made of shiny beads. Its not very 'sharp', even when looking at it up close and in person. The facial features do not clearly define themselves. Of course, the photograph is even more muddled. Sometimes I feel like giving the ole' heave-ho to this blog because the images don't come close to the experience of the originals. But alas, that's the problem lots of artists have. did I just call myself an artist? Oops!

Red and Brains and....

This is sort of a follow up on the self portrait. It continues the theme of certain problems which emanate from the quality and workings of the brain. We don't get to choose our brain. What would happen if we had a better model?

I wanted to work on a colored surface. I almost chose black but the red won out instead. I also wanted to use all metallic threads.
For the first time I didn't fill every inch of my working space with stitches. For much of it, I let the fabric exist as it was. I was planning to leave much more alone but then I fell upon the glorious accident which I described in the previous post.
The figure was supposed to be me. But when I did the head I knew it couldn't be. It looked too much like one of those zombie-type things found on heavy metal posters in some adolescents room. I wasn't happy with it, but what could I do? It stayed.

This is the largest thing I've done. it measures about 7 inches diameter.

I left it round, left it flat. I just sewed up the edges and left the back exposed, which may or may not look as interesting as the front.

Work in progress / Serendipity

I never pull a stitch out. I try to work with it or cover it over. In this case some black lines got a little out of control and I wanted to get rid of them completely, like they weren't there at all. Instead of searching for a suitable thread color which would resemble the red fabric I was working on, I decided to pull strands from the very fabric itself, pulling it apart, un-weaving it. The strands were not very strong, but with careful stitching I managed to cover over my error, the result looking like a scar. After a while I realized I had added a kind of subtle texture to the fabric, which I liked, so I began to do it deliberately. Now I am covering much of this piece with this 'new, discovered-by-accident' technique. It's creating a nice, 'background' effect.

Interview on Donkeywolf Blog

Penny Nickels of Donkeywolf Blog interviewed me. Thanks Penny!

http://donkeywolf.blogspot.com/2010/01/tod-hensley-flying-haystacks-embroidery.html

"SHPSBDTFTJUME"

(the full title can be seen on an earlier post).
I was inspired by the James Ensor exhibit at MOMA. I placed myself in the midst of demons as metaphors of psychological distress which can possibly result in physical ailments. Perhaps the act of creating and posting this work will act as an exorcism and cure/free me.
Aesthetically, the rule was not to have a stitch/stroke adjacent to another of the same color, to avoid solid areas of color. I suppose that could also be some kind of metaphor.
When placed horizontally, this piece puffs out with bumps and texture, like a miniature mountain. The red "evil" eye is, strangely, at the very highest point. That was not intentional.....

Bird

The first in a planned series of black and white, smaller and 'simpler' embroideries.
Unfortunately the series didn't last long. This is the only one (so far I suppose).

Anyway, this is the bird. The dark bird. The bird that resides somewhere within the barren, leafless trees in the winter. The bird that you think you see from a distance at dusk, as you are hurrying to get home before dark. The bird that lands on your bedroom windowsill in the dead of night while you sleep and punctures your chest with its long, sharp beak....
(hey, its not my fault, these things just come into my head!)....

Diablo

(getting tired of using the word 'demon'). This looks like a sad one. Confined to the lonely world of the abyss. Lost....
The 'face' and outer edge is all metallic thread. I used stitches of regular black thread to create a shading effect, like the technique of crosshatching with pen and ink.
I am very inspired by the art of Mexican metal tooling and tried to make this piece resemble the shiny metal, textural surfaces of that art form. Of course, you can't really see the raised textured surface in the photo.

Mr. X Stitch

Embroidery posted on Mr. X Stitch blog.
Thank you Mr. X Stitch!

http://www.mrxstitch.com/2009/10/23/stitchgasm-flying-haystacks/