Brooklyn Bench, embracing fall

Opening tomorrow night at Muriel Guepin Gallery - 6:30-8pm. Stop by if you're around - 83 Orchard Street. Good art, wonderful artists, including Nathan Vincent and Kathy Halper...

My newest addition, below - stitched right up until the installation.

Embroidery, watercolor and applique. 2013. 

Fun with 3 dimensions

So the fun of making jewelry and experimenting with 3 dimensions has led to more figurative experiments as well. Below is a piece in progress. I can't wait to continue and "finish" this "doll."

"Stitching Myself Together."
Watercolor, embroidery,
stitching, batting (fill)
appliqué. 2013. In progress.

Anne's open studio in the Berkshires

Thanks to fellow artist and friend, Anne Mourier, in collaboration with Muriel Guepin, for hosting Anne’s Open Studio in the Berkshires,

Featuring the artwork of:

Anne Mourier, photographer and mixed media artist

Painters John Prizeman and Megan Berk

Sculptor Claudia Paneca

Embroiderer Iviva Olenick

9 Yale Hill Road

Stockbridge, Massachusetts

Open Wednesday-Sunday, 2-7pm; July 4th – Labor Day

Here is a sneak peak at some of the work that will be included:

 "Flowering Into Abundance." 2012. Embroidery and appliqué of cut, hand screen printed flowers. $950 framed. 13x19".

Creative Chameleon. 2008. Embroidery and appliqué on handkerchief. $500.6x9".

Pieced Together

Appliqued and hand-stitched. The places I've been in my own mind lately have been vast and rich and I feel change coming in the form of new professional opportunities, and new love.

Maudlin or Meaningful?

My fear is that there is a maudlin quality to my work, and that by sharing my personal experiences, anecdotes, and feelings, it's as if my audience has walked in on me in the bathroom. I have tried to mediate the confessional nature of my work by creating fictional characters and sharing viewpoints/voices other than my own. Yet I still wonder: is my work slight because it is about the human need for lasting connection rather than a cry against the social/political ills of our time?

My work itself seeks connection. As I work on a piece about a specific person, I often think, "I feel as though I am stitching us together." Each time my needle enters the fabric, I am creating an opening to fill with thread. And if I create an opening within myself, I leave open the opportunity of allowing someone to enter.

Image at top: "Stitched Together." 2009. Embroidery and applique on fabric. See my web site for more info.