Thanks, Patsy Kay Kolesar

Many thanks to Patsy Kay Kolesar, jewelry designer, who wrote a lovely blog piece about my embroidery and this blog. You can read her commentary here.

Patsy found my work through Etsy.

Drunk with love

Besotted means infatuated and also drunk. I want to be drunk with love...

Yes, I know I need to stitch in her hands. More to come.

What's missing

This week marked class two of my four-week Embroidered Portraits class at the new and wonderful Textile Arts Center in Gowanus, Brooklyn. I have one male student, a knitter, and four women. All of them are doing interesting work, and I am excited to watch their processes and progressions. 

As often happens in craft-based classes, we have been sharing personal histories. Today we talked about coming of age experiences. Last week, we talked about the difficulties of meeting people in New York. I commented that people come to New York for all kinds of reasons, one of which is to start over, and even create a new persona. I feel as though many of the men I've met are looking to fill something that's missing in them. Instead of looking internally, they're looking externally, setting up a situation where I become a caregiver for someone I hardly know. New York, with its large number of people, can be a safe place to hide and to avoid confronting personal issues. Instead of looking inward, we can always find another person, a stranger even, to help fill our time and give us the sense that we are changing and experiencing new things, when we actually remain static and inert internally.

Here's to personal growth of all kinds...

Love fairies

About a week ago, spring hit New York, and I was so elated I felt as if I could fly away. I started imagining all kinds of things, and invented a new figure - the love fairy, an ever-present yet not always visible guide who will steer me towards a more satisfying relationship than the ones I've had to date.

This is the beginning of an embroidery about love fairies. The base fabric is from a friend, Paula Overbay, who also shows her work at Muriel Guepin Gallery. 

Paula, thanks for the gift. I can't wait to develop this piece more.

MTA: Brooklyn's veins and arteries...Get there from here

J train: ReJoice

L train: BeLoved

G: Get going

C: Come on

M: Mystery train

D: Diverge

R: Ride

(c) 2010 Iviva Olenick

Center for Book Arts Annual Auction and Benefit

The Center for Book Arts, a non-profit center dedicated to the art of the book, turns 35 this year. (Consequently, I turn 35 in July!). To celebrate, the Center is hosting an annual benefit and auction. 

The auction takes place on Wednesday, April 7th at the Center's home at 28 West 27th Street (3rd Floor) in Manhattan. For info on tickets, click here. 

Otherwise, you can check out the items for auction online, and can place a bid by visiting the Center's web site.

Up top are some images of auction items. Many more wonderful works are also available. Check it out online!

The pieces pictured above are: Clockwise from Top Left: Dana Velan, Untitled; Robert The, Cultural Literacy; Iviva  Olenick, Let's Walk Up the Hill Together; Brendan Carroll, From the Piss And Vinegar series; Beatrice Coron, Biblio-balloons