Successful Open Studios + sneak peak of interactive sound!

Last Thursday's open studios at IMC Lab and Gallery was a success! Visitors shared in our excitement over the launch of new projects at the intersection of handmade and digital realms. And there's more - stay tuned for details as each of us rolls out solo shows of our new works later this fall and early in 2015. Colleen Flanigan is up first with a show opening in November; I will debut new works in January-February 2015. 

In the meantime, here is a sneak peak of how James Tunick took sound files of my interviews with friends and acquaintances (and dogs!), and turned them into an interactive piece relating to my sculptures.

Woven Poetry Bridge

I'm really looking forward to some upcoming shows, including the culmination of my Weaving Hand Artist Residency on Thursday, December 19th. The evening will feature woven and embroidered handwork, artwork from my Brooklyn Arts Council-supported @EmbroideryPoems project, and readings by some of my favorite poets, Montana Ray, Octavio Gonzalez, and Tico Cortez. Stay tuned for more details!

In the meantime, below is the woven lace I created, which I will transform into a woven poetry bridge!

Digital embroidery - a new process to learn

Finally. Yes. I took the plunge into personal digital embroidery (the machine calls itself a personal embroidery machine. As opposed to an industrial or business machine? Like a PC or personal computer?).

My first experiments below. Clearly, I have a lot to learn about tension of the thread...

Craft Spoken Here

The past few days and weeks have been a whirlwind personally and professionally. I have literally had some mini-romantic breakups, some emotional ups and downs, and some excitement. 


Yesterday, I traveled to Philadelphia just for the evening to attend a special curator walk through of "Craft Spoken Here" at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. I think I mentioned previously that some of my post-its (or embroidered tweets) are in the gift shop associated with this exhibit.


Elisabeth Agro, the Nancy M. McNell Associate Curator of American Modern and Contemporary Craft and Decorative Arts, officially introduced the show and talked a bit about her curatorial process. I had caught a glimpse of the exhibit when it was still being installed in April. It was a thrill to see it in its entirety yesterday evening after hours. The Museum is nestled in a very lush, green part of the city, and the trip itself was delightful. 


I was very taken with Rebecca Medel's piece, "The One," pictured here. During my visit to the Museum several months ago, it was disassembled and being installed. I am glad I was able to see it in its final incarnation. For a large-scale piece, it has quite a bit of delicacy and grace. The piece consists of single strands of thread tied into repetitive sheet bends, knots used by sailors. I am amazed that the sum of so many small parts creates so powerful a statement.  

Submerged

Had an amazing weekend getaway in Vermont with some friends. Hiking, swimming, running on country roads, and of course, embroidery!

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".

Thanks, Andrew Thornton and Lark Crafts

I was very happy to learn this morning that I am mentioned in a blog post/interview about Andrew Thornton conducted by Lark Crafts. Thanks to the publisher, Ray Hemachandra, Team Lead, Lark Jewelry & Beading, Lark Crafts / Sterling Publishing Inc., for letting me know.

And many thanks to Andrew for including my name amongst those who have inspired him.

To read the post, click here.

To find out more about Andrew, visit his blog.

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!

Affordable Art Fair report

This week is the Affordable Art Fair in New York City. The madness has once again begun!!

My gallerist, Muriel Guepin, is representing my work. She has many of my  post-its, like this piece here, and some Brooklyn-specific pieces. In fact, I jammed out this piece just yesterday morning, responding to Muriel's request for more pieces of this kind. 

I am off from work, but feel as though I am working just as hard, if not harder...As I think I shared last year at this time, standing around while others discuss your work can be funny, uncomfortable, etc. No one who saw my work yesterday realized I was the artist. The responses were quite emotional. I am glad to see my pieces finding an audience. 

Thanks again to Muriel for supporting my work wholeheartedly.

Great things to come

I was asked to design some pieces for a new space opening in Brooklyn this spring. In response, I am creating an homage to the neighborhood. This is a cropped image of one of my designs... More to come.

Taking it Apart - What my process teaches me

The more art I make, the more my process teaches me about my work. 

My last two posts have focused on using a beautiful piece of antique, Irish lace for my "post-it note" pieces—my textual pieces on scraps of fabric. As I chose discrete sections of this lace for each textual excerpt, I began to realize that my post-it-note pieces are powerful partly because they are on rough-edged fabric scraps. They are small, a little raw, and therefore intimate. Sometimes I hem the edges of these pieces, and often I don't. The rough edges seem consistent with the experiences I describe.

So I decided to extract each textual snippet from the antique lace. As I cut, I feel as if I am betraying the fabric, yet I am setting my work apart.

Piece at left:

"My relationships are nutritionally deprived. It started with my recession boyfriend." 2009. Embroidery on snippet of antique lace.