Spray Kings from FiberGraf

This is the latest piece from FiberGraf, my collaboration with graffiti artist, Jon Baker. I started working with this image in 2009. I've worked on it on and off for the past 2 1/2 years, and finally feel as though it's finished. As you can see, I selected certain areas to cover with stitches, leaving others "flat" and sans embroidery.

It wasn't love at first sight in Prospect Heights

Prospect Heights love story as told by a friend now living with her husband and two kids in Flatbush, Brooklyn. When she and her husband met, she lived in Prospect Heights with a roommate (who is a good friend of mine).

"I remember the first time he cooked for me. It was maybe our third date, and I felt taken care of, like I was home.

He cooked spaghetti with an instant Japanese sauce pack, which was funny for two reasons:

1) the flavor was gorgonzola, which I don't like, and

2) I didn't know it at the time, but he's a great cook without having to lean on mixes, so I'm not sure why he used one then.

Maybe he wasn't trying hard to impress. He's cooked me countless meals since then, but that was the first time I thought he might be a keeper.

Slow Falls

As I work on multiple embroidered pieces, I thought I would share something beautiful I watched today: a series of dance performances as public installations along an industrial stretch of 3rd Avenue from 1st - 8th Streets in Gowanus, Brooklyn.

The dance performance, called "Slow Falls," consisted of a series of stop-watch timed "descents" marked by tape along scaffolding, brick and other structures. The dancers, four in each piece, were barefoot. The dancers started each piece 6 minutes apart. After finishing a dance in one location, the dancer would move to another location as viewers either stayed behind to watch the remaining dancers, or followed.

Created by Abigail Levine, "Slow Falls" is one of numerous performances in the Movement Research Festival 2011 in New York City. I am so glad I found out about it and caught a little of it. (My secret dream is to be a dancer. )

HenZ

This is the latest from FiberGraf, my collaboration with graffiti artist, Jon Baker.

We are dreaming up ways to translate the complexity and detail of pieces like the one at left to something replicable on clothing and bags...Can you picture it? More to come very soon on this idea.

"He had my heart in his mouth..."

"The whole relationship, he had my heart in his mouth. I handed myself over completely."

My friend in south Park Slope recollected her first love while we sat at a Bergen Street bar a few months ago. I've had this image in my head for months, and finally had an opportunity to realize it in embroidery.

Thank you, Mr. X Stitch

Embroidery and needle craft blogger, Mr. X Stitch very generously and unexpectedly reviewed my art this past week. Thank you, Mr. X Stitch, for a write-up, which you can find here.

Brooklyn is "that" girl...

"Brooklyn is that girl you can't decide if you should propose to or never speak to again."

Ahhh, the Brooklyn Love Exchange. A clever friend of mine posted this on Facebook, and I gained permission to add it to my portrait of Brooklyn Love.