Creamsicle by @EmbroideryPoems

"Orange Brooklyn - Running under a creamsicle-colored sky."
2013. Embroidery and watercolor on fabric.
Text by @EmbroideryPoems. 

Mauve sky for morning run: day before snowstorm Nemo

"Mauve Sky for Morning Run." 2013.
Embroidery and watercolor on fabric. 2.25" x 4.5".

Hungrily

"I used to date hungrily. Now, running is my best friend and I am engaged to my art."

My disappearing maps

The image at left is of my latest map, a tribute to my first treadmill run of 2009. Running on the treadmill can be immensely boring. I try to placate myself by listening to my ipod. I never listen to music on my outdoor runs. I like street noises, and I feel as though I need to use my ears to pay attention to traffic - cars and pedestrians I may not be able to see.

Anyway, this map says:

"1st treadmill run, winter 09

Music as landscape:

VETO:

Can you see anything?

We are not your friends

You are a knife

Cannibal

I brought the bbq

wereisobesotted.blogspot.com

Of course, these were not the only songs I listened to that day, but they are the ones I remember.

I am sad to say that the map I posted less than one week ago is gone! Who is removing my maps? I am very troubled by their disappearance. I think it is not neighborly to take them down. At the moment, the two bulletin boards are largely empty. There are two laminated signs offering a hefty reward for a dog that's been missing since October. I hope the owner finds the dog, and also that he or she is not taken advantage of in the process.

I am still working on alternative venues for my maps...I will let you know what I come up with.

Mapping my run on the snowy banks

Much to my disappointment, I have not been able to run outside for the past two days. The first snow of the season left the streets slushy, icy, and wet, with huge banks of snow on the corners. I actually ran on the treadmill, which is a poor substitute for an outdoor run.

To honor my love of running while the sun rises, I posted this map yesterday morning on the Boerum Hill bulletin board. As you can tell, it was not yet light out. 

I was disappointed to discover that my two previous maps had been removed. Where did they go? Who took them?

I need to find a more permanent space for my maps. I am working on reaching out to arts organizations that help artists produce public projects. I applied for a slot to talk to some of the administrators of Creative Time, a NYC-based non-profit that produces public art projects. The next one-on-one artist counseling sessions are being held at PS1 in January. I have no idea what my chances are of being picked for a meeting, but I am excited about the possibility.

Mapping My Run, Hoyt Street and Atlantic

I noticed yesterday that the map I attached to the bulletin board on the corner of Hoyt Street and Atlantic Avenue has remained. Yay!

I have decided to continue to post my maps, one on top of one another, so that I will create a public diary of my runs. 

I will probably collect the maps within a few months, and bind them into a book, which I may try to exhibit. 

If you live in the neighborhood, keep an eye out for this bulletin board!

Hoyt Street and Atlantic Avenue

This map is on a bulletin board on the corner of Hoyt Street and Atlantic Avenue. 

Before posting it, I got into a conversation with a neighbor, who was prying old staples off the bulletin boards.

I described my project to him, and as a former runner, he seemed sympathetic. He also told me that an artist is planning to plant corn on a patch of land in the neighborhood. The corn is a native strain. That should be interesting to keep an eye out for.

Left Behind on My Run, installment 2, Bergen-Court Sts

I decided to approach my "Left Behind on My Run" project from a slightly different angle. I am now selecting and searching for publicly-accessible bulletin boards along my running route. 

The picture at left is a map I placed at the intersection of Bergen and Court Streets. I wonder how long it will live in this space, and if it will generate interest?

Mapping my runs

Since initiating "Left Behind on My Run," I have realized how much I enjoy hand-stitching a map. I get to re-experience the run, and to share it with others.

After installing the first round, I was happy to see that my pieces lived on for nearly a week.

They were taken down, probably not by pedestrians, but by the Department of Sanitation. I called 311 to try to find out if I could obtain a permit to post art publicly without the risk of a fine or having it taken down.

Neither the person I spoke with at the hotline, nor the internet research I did led me to the precise information I want.

The Department of Transportation has three programs to which non-profits can apply with an artist to do a specific project. This is not quite what I'm looking for.

What I really want is to be able to post my maps and emotional quips on the streets of the neighborhoods I traverse regularly. These streets and my runs are as much a part of my emotional landscape as the dates I've been on. When I run, all of these parts of my life seem to collide.

In the meantime, I plan to keep making maps, which I will assemble into a book. I have discovered that I really enjoy stitching on plastic. I like the semi-transparent quality, and the versatility and surprising strength of the material.

The first installment of Left Behind on My Run, Monday, 11/9/2009

At left: Boerum Place and Pacific Street, the start of my run. A bleak corner across from New York Sports Club Cobble Hill. Lots of construction on the block.

At right: Atlantic Ave and Boerum Place, turning the corner and ramping uphill.

The run continues...what I left behind, part II

Corner of Atlantic Avenue and Court...Lots of pedestrian traffic.

"In my mind, we're heading

towards marriage. He doesn't

know it yet, but he will."

Left Behind on My Run - Smith Street and Third Street

This is where I left my final sign this evening. I had intended to leave more, but somehow lost my packing tape!! 

"I still hope he'll change."

If people do read these, and I very much hope they do, maybe these pieces will inspire more affection among couples, and a great leap forward towards secret crushes...

You Were My Marathon

I've been running since I was fourteen and joined my high school's track team. 20 years later, running has taken on new meaning for me. I love it. I dream about it. Everything feels heightened when I run  - thoughts, sensations, memories. I especially love a challenge: wind, rain, difficult terrain.

Last spring, I went into a running craze. I was gradually increasing mileage, and my runs were primarily on hilly areas and on broken sidewalks. I had to dodge dogs, bikes, construction, broken glass, ambling pedestrians.

Around the time my runs deepened, I also had to extricate myself from someone I really loved. To this day, I know for certain he does not get how I was feeling. I finally figured this out recently. My devotion to running was somehow tied to my devotion to the idea of him. I know the two were connected.

Now, it's finally cool enough for running to feel right again. My body has healed from a torn muscle, a tiny muscle that connects the pelvis to the thigh, and from some distress to my pelvic bone (if it sounds painful, it was -- I could barely sit for three months).

I have a different perspective on the man I was running to and from as well. 

When I meet other runners who say they've stopped running because of an injury, I tell them I've had injuries, too, and that a break from running is like a breakup from someone you love dearly and are used to being with nearly every day. I finally realize that my relationship with running is a marriage. I plan to be running as long as I can stand and walk. There may be periods that are more intense than others, years when I run farther and faster, in more difficult locales. But I will always run.

You're my main meal

"I want you to be my main meal. Not just a side dish. Not even dessert.

Many people dream of getting married. I dream about running. Will you be my one and only pair of sneakers?"

Hand stitched on antique lace (see Antique fabric and what I'm dreaming of post).

Always I return to you.

Piece at left:
"Always I return to you." 2009. 4.75" wide X 8.5" high. Embroidery on fabric.

"Loving you is like running uphill—there is construction on the side of the road, the streets are out of order, yet I move forward. Always I return to you."

In my hair, I say "hold onto me or let me go. Darling, hold onto me."

Please see the previous post, April 15, "Generation 'Maybe, I don't know.' Hold Onto Me Tightly, or Let Me Go (piece in progress).

In finishing this piece, I realize it is a love poem for running, and also for someone I'm close to right now.

When the Shoe Doesn't Fit

I've tried on and run in many pairs of sneakers, just as I've tried out many men. I am not sure in which area I have done more research.

"When the Shoe Doesn't Fit," finished piece at right, says:
"My slow accumulation of boyfriends, like pairs of running sneakers. Some hurt and were hardly worn. I hoped some would mold, magically, to my feet. Others, I ran in blissfully. I held on as long as they held up. Now, after years of waiting for the other shoe to drop, I know to try on many pairs until I find one I won't want to take off. I know when to say no, even if it hurts. And I am learning how to slow down."

As for learning to slow down, I am picking up speed and mileage.

The drawings at left, my study for the finished piece at right, are from an embroidery class I taught at Etsy Labs in Brooklyn last spring. After my students practiced French knots (see right-hand image), which require small, tight movements, there were sighs of frustration. To loosen up, I had my students do a continuous line drawing of one of my sneakers. This exercise is like a game where you continue drawing and do not pick up your pen until I say stop. I participated, too, and later went home and added more sneakers.

To sign up for an embroidery class: Etsy at 3rd Ward in Bushwick, Brooklyn:
http://www.3rdward.com/classes/spring/etsyward see Extraordinary Embroidery.
Next one is Saturday, April 11, 12noon-3pm.