Stitch with me this September (and October and November)

Hi fellow artists, craftspeople, creatives, designers, lovers of fun and Brooklyn.

Let's embroider together this fall. Upcoming workshops include:

FOR BEGINNERS ~

1. Embroidery 101 @ 61 Local

61 Bergen Street, Brooklyn (near Smith Street and the F/G trains to Bergen Street)

Wednesday, 9/14, 7-8:30pm with instructor (me) available until 9pm
This is a total intro class where you will learn basic stitches. Within the first half hour, you will be able to stitch your name.

Cost is $35 including supplies. Sign up on skillshare:

http://www.skillshare.com/Embroidery-101/591490391

2. Classes at 3rd Ward in Bushwick, Brooklyn

Sunday, 9/18, 11am-2pm

Saturday, 10/15, 1:30-4:30pm

Saturday, 11/19, 1:30-4:30pm
$60 + $10 materials fee

You can sign up for one session; each session is 3 hours
Info covered: basic stitches + techniques for transferring images onto fabric and drawing and writing with thread.

Link for more info and registration:
http://www.3rdward.com/3rdwardclasses/extraordinary-embroidery.html

FOR BEGINNERS, EXPERTS AND EVERYONE IN BETWEEN:
3. Pratt CCPS, 144 West 14th Street, NYC, F/L/1/2/3 to 14th Street
The Embroidered Art Journal, Design and Craft Projects

This class is the most in depth, and allows you to develop a project from conception through technical trouble shooting with instructor and peer feedback and support.

PMDA-106-01
October 16 - November 20
Sunday mornings, 9:30am-12:30pm
$305

PMDA-106-02
September 16 - October 28
Fridays, 6:30-9:30pm
$305

http://my.pratt.edu to register or 212-647-7199

Can't Wait!

I am so excited about my upcoming classes at Pratt. I especially love my Embroidered Art Journal class, a practical and creative intro to embroidery that fuses fiber arts with book making, and even talks about blogs as an art form and an extension of artists' contemporary practices. I have taught this class 3 times already, and I swear it improves each time. I have had such wonderful students, who have helped me hone the syllabus.

Are you in the NY area? Then sign up and join me for a class!!

http://my.pratt.edu

Do you have friends who are curious about embroidery? Get them involved, too. 

For all course listings, visit my bio on Pratt's web site. 

Hurry up! Classes start soon and I would love to meet and work with you!

Teaching here, there, and everywhere

This spring/summer, I am teaching here, there, and everywhere. 

If you'd like to join me, here's how:

1. Extraordinary Embroidery

1-day, 3-hour workshop at 3rd Ward, 573 Metropolitan Avenue, Williamsburg, btwn Lorimer and Union

Saturday, May 15, 2:30-5:30pm

For more info -   http://www.3rdward.com/3rdwardclasses/extraordinary-embroidery.html -

2. The Embroidered Art Journal, PMDA 104-01 - 5 weeks

Wednesday evenings, 6:30-9:30, June 2-June 30

@ Pratt Manhattan

No previous experience with embroidery, sewing, or book arts needed.

For more info: http://www.pratt.edu/academics/continuing_education_and_professional/faculty_and_staff/bio/?id=iolenick

To register, you can go online: http://my.pratt.edu, or call 212-647-7199.

3. SECTION II: The Embroidered Art Journal, PMDA 104-02 - 5 weeks

Friday evenings, 6:30-9:30, July 9 - August 6

@ Pratt Manhattan

For more info: http://www.pratt.edu/academics/continuing_education_and_professional/faculty_and_staff/bio/?id=iolenick

To register, you can go online: http://my.pratt.edu, or call 212-647-7199.

4. Incorporating Embroidery into Art, Design, and Craft Projects, PMDA

106 - 8 weeks

Sundays, 9:30am - 12:30pm, May 23- July 18th

This class is ideal for those who are new to embroidery and are already comfortable working in another artistic/creative medium.

For more info: http://www.pratt.edu/academics/continuing_education_and_professional/faculty_and_staff/bio/?id=iolenick

To register, you can go online: http://my.pratt.edu, or call 212-647-7199.

5. Crafting Stories through Fiber - PMDA 107 - 8 weeks

Sundays 1pm - 4pm, May 23 - July 18

This class will give you tools for expressing your story through embroidery, fabric, and fiber arts, and is perfect for beginners, as well as more experienced embroiderers, artists, and craftspeople.

For more info: http://www.pratt.edu/academics/continuing_education_and_professional/faculty_and_staff/bio/?id=iolenick

To register, you can go online: http://my.pratt.edu, or call 212-647-7199.

Get stitchy in April

Over the course of teaching the past few years, I've created numerous stitch samplers. I have also discovered which types of stitches seem to confound and confuse, and which bring nearly instant delight and gratification. I like to challenge and reward my students, and I always learn from them. 

By the end of a single, 3-hour class, students are able to embroider their names using a combination of different stitches, and begin a portrait or drawing.

If you'd like to learn with me, here are some workshops in April:

1. 5 weeks of studio time with Iviva - The Embroidered Art Journal class at Pratt Center for Continuing and Professional Studies (14th Street and 7th Ave in Manhattan):

5 Wednesdays:

April 21 - May 19th, 6:30-9:30pm

Registration:

http://my.pratt.edu

212-647-7199

After mastering a dozen stitches for decorative and practical use, we will explore a range of methods for interpreting photographs as embroideries, drawing with thread, and transferring images and text onto fabric.

The goal is for each student to embark on a personal project that incorporates embroidery and narrative. Mixed media projects are encouraged.

Previous students have worked on a wide range of pursuits: one is in the process of making a book for her soon-to-be grandchild, another did preparatory work for exhibition pieces for a show. Students experimented with non-traditional materials, like sewing on bubble wrap and other forms of packaging. Some created sculptural "landscapes" by manipulating fabric and thread. Others reinterpreted their own drawings and illustrations using fabric and thread.

The possibilities for this class are endless...

2. Saturday, April 3rd (next weekend!!) 3 hours of studio time

3rd Ward in Williamsburg, Brooklyn

3-6pm

For more info and to register: 3rd Ward

Get an early start to the evening by joining me for a 3-hour embroidery-athon.

In addition to tackling stitches from the sampler up top, we will review methods for transferring images onto fabric, and for interpreting graphic images and photographs as embroideries. 

I will supply materials. Come with your favorite fabric, a piece in progress, and any questions you may have. 

Embroiderography

This blog has been devoted to one of my embroidered projects and its many tree branches, Were I So Besotted. On the blog, you have seen my running maps on pieces of plastic Trader Joe's shopping bags. You have read my "post-it notes," or small text-based pieces. And, of course, you have read and viewed the more developed anecdotes I stitch on fabric pages roughly 5" wide X 8" high.

The components described above are just part of what I do. Another creative project is FiberGraf, my collaboration with graffiti artist, Jon Baker. And it's exactly what it sounds like — embroidered graffiti! You can check it out here. Also, the piece at left is Blending Mode, one of our FiberGraf collaborations.

I also teach, which I have touched upon in my blog. There is an art to listening to people's verbal and nonverbal cues and questions so that I can best meet their needs for the limited hours we share together. I am currently expanding my course load and developing new class proposals and ideas. If you'd like to weigh in or find out how to take one of my classes, let me know. In fact, I just set up an Embroidered Portraits class for March at the Textile Art Center of New York in Brooklyn. I can't wait to participate in this burgeoning fiber arts laboratory. For more info on the Textile Art Center, click here.

I love all of the work I do. It gives my life meaning and purpose. All of my projects are my Embroiderography, or stitched autobiography. That is the new umbrella term for my work, and, it is the driving force behind the business I am growing. Embroiderography is how I interact with the world. It will connect me to others who feel a kinship with me through my work and the act of creating itself. In fact, it already has. 

The Embroidered Art Journal -- My September class at Pratt

Well, the artist talk at the Center for Book Arts last week was fabulous. I was in wonderful company, and was impressed by the other artists' work, and their public speaking skills. I really felt as if it were a communal experience: there were common threads among our work. One of the audience members wrote a lovely review on her blog. You can check it out here. 

My next adventure will be teaching at Pratt this fall in the Center for Continuing and Professional Studies on West 14th Street in Manhattan. I encourage you to sign up! Unfortunately, the Pratt web site is down until August 18th, so if you'd like to register, call 212-647-7199. Here are the details:

The Embroidered Art Journal: Embroidery as Narration and Illustration

This introductory workshop on embroidery and artist books will begin with making a sampler of 12 embroidery stitches and learning some basics about how to work with different fibers and fabrics. Your instructor will work with you to develop concepts for an artist book that incorporates embroidery and other media. Emphasis will be on the creative process, and the application and use of new skills and materials. In addition to experimenting with embroidery, you will be asked to record information in visual and/or textual form during and in between each class. You can do this in any way you choose: by keeping a conventional sketchbook or diary; writing a blog; taking photographs; making paintings or sculptures; even recording notes in your iPhone or through emails or text messages. The goals of this course are to become comfortable with embroidery and fabric; practice engagement with your daily visual and social environment; develop a project from initial concept to artistic execution; and participate in a group environment where new artwork and ideas are created and shared.

Topics include: 

A vocabulary of embroidery stitches; the basics of fabrics and fiber materials; 

conventional and unconventional materials in embroidery;

transferring images and text onto fabric;

drawing and writing with embroidery;

text as a primary artistic medium; 

an introduction to book arts, including blogs.

Prerequisite: No previous experience with embroidery, sewing, or book arts needed.

• Section 1: W 6:30–9:30 PM

5 sessions Sept 2-30

Iviva Olenick

• Section 2: Su 9:30 AM–12:30 PM

5 Sessions Nov 15–Dec 20

Iviva Olenick

PMDA 104 1.5 C.E.U.s $195

Intro to Embroidery

If you are in the NYC area and would like an introductory crash course on embroidery, I am teaching a 3-hour workshop on Tuesday, May 19 from 6:30-9:30pm at Etsy at 3rd Ward in Bushwick, Brooklyn. For details, visit 3rd Ward's web site.

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.