Were I So Besotted - embroidered "blog"

In February 2007, I began recording and illustrating episodes from dates with men I met through the internet, through friends, and at parties and art openings. At first, I imagined making a graphic novel with a stylized, hyperbolic version of myself. Eventually, after drawing and writing in a journal, I began to embroider 5" wide by 8.5" high "pages." Each page included illustrations and/or text on fabric. The illustrations were derived from photos of me, or were fictionalized representations of men I encountered.

Now, two years later, I have compiled around two dozen pages in this piece, "Were I So Besotted." Each page contains a discrete anecdote, episode, or theme, and can be viewed on its own. However, I think of the pages as a collective portrait of a period in my life, and my engagement in the contemporary, media-driven method of searching for and finding a mate. Furthermore, I consider the pages to be an embroidered blog--they are intimate and even disarming the way blog posts can be; they are inspired by internet-fueled behavior and socializing; and they grew out of my own process of keeping a journal/diary where I record "private" thoughts through drawings and text.

Here, finally, are some of the pages in "Were I So Besotted" in the context of an actual blog. Additional images from Were I So Besotted can be viewed at: http://IvivaOlenick.neoimages.net.
You can see more of my artwork on Esty:
http://IvivaEmbroiders.etsy.com.

Image at top left: "Play." Embroidery and colored pencil on fabric. 8.5" high X 5" wide. August 2007.