Summer Lovin

Summer's long days and nights fade before we're ready and catch the perfect selfie on the beach  in front of a sunset.

Summer romances are said to be similar. I've spent my summer teaching elementary school students for whom English is a second language. With no summer romance appearing, I've had to embroider one into being...

Come home and put me on like a sweater is a season-less romance for the whole year round.

Bearded Brooklyn

What do trends in facial hair say about the status quo? Beards are in in Brooklyn. Just in time for winter.

Watercolor and embroidery on fabric. 2014 by Iviva Olenick

Oh, Facebook. We never met, but...

"Visual assault of your Facebook
photos the morning after we
didn't meet. Your flimsy excuses
and unrepentant arrogance.

"Piecing him together from
Facebook and OkCupid photos.
We never met, yet I almost ended
up at his apt one night..."

Embroidery, watercolor, and
appliqué. 2013. 6" x 4.5"

Another piece for my December 13th show with Muriel Guepin Gallery. Stay tuned for opening reception and exhibition details!

Dyeing, repurposing and weaving with Weaving Hand Studio

Dyeing and drying the warp by hand with an iron. I actually hand painted the warp with watercolor wax pastels...

I also spent some time weaving, using cut-up, old t-shirts as "yarn" for the weft. 

Crustacean support group

"Maybe I have to have a soft shell, be a soft shell crab so that I don't get smashed. But then I'll just end up in someone's sandwich." Crustacean Support Group.

Text by a friend for @EmbroideryPoems, BAC-sponsored project. 2013. 

Embroidery and watercolor on silk. 3"x3.75".

Getting closer

I am almost done with my third Brooklyn piece, which is a bit of a departure from the first two. I will post it within the next few days, I promise.

In the meantime, I thought I'd give a brief review of this past weekend's art orgy, otherwise known as too many art fairs hit New York within a 3-day period. After teaching on Saturday morning and having a brief brainstorming session with my gallerist, I dragged myself into Manhattan to see Independent, which had no cover charge, and an array of artwork from all over the globe, much of which felt clinical to me. I did not feel much inspired by the work, but was pleased to run into art critic Jerry Saltz, who I find to be hilarious and incisive. As his Facebook friend, I also find it entertaining that he is a poor speller, yet gets his point across quite clearly. Thank you, Jerry Saltz, for adding your voice to the contemporary art world.

I also had the pleasure this weekend of seeing the work of a new friend, Anita Walsh. She is showing a series of "living drawings" in Park Slope at Picada y Vino wine shop on 5th Avenue and 3rd Street. You can see more of her work here. The piece at top is hers, too, entitled "Living Drawing Series I," rubber and brass on white birch. 

I love the woven quality of the rubber bands as thread, and I love the organic decay that occurs. I feel as though I've discovered a new textile artist, and I'm thrilled!

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).