For Chris

Oh no! Yeah... and that cat hair was intentional to show you the scale mmmhmmm

Embroidery tends to look pretty insignificant and small in person, so I love blown up cropped shots that show off the work. Am thinking of submitting this to an online publication called CURIO for their Small Worlds theme if I can't come up with anything else.

     And For Chris: GRACE JONES! I know that all those who were formally taught to do embroidery would be horrified by the backs of what I make, but the jumps in fiber and chaos is something that I look forward to when I turn the final product over. That something develops unintentionally definitely reinforces the concept of portraiture by alluding to something that can't be gleaned from surface characteristics. But then if I'm aware can it even be called chaos?

Make sure to Visit Chris' Blog as well!

For Salena

He is supposed to be saving some cats, but they got a little illegible, same with his hands. But look at his cute french-knot undies!

A gift for my friend Salena. She wanted something with Batman :) Visit her blog!

Kicked off the Island (What didn't make it in)

     Here are a few paintings details from what I've been working on in last quarters senior studio class. The class was designed to create an environment that allowed students to develop a personal studio practice before being thrown out into the real world. It was a nice reprieve from assignment based work but also difficult, because it makes you question what your art can be if it's not serving a commercial purpose. So I spent the quarter experimenting and thinking my way through what painting is, and the history of painting. Specifically the whole, no woman painters thing, the whole, line vs. color vs. representational vs abstract vs conceptual thing. 

     Anyway, I only put one piece into the Senior show. Everything I made was so jumbled. Interesting experience wise and to chart a thought, but inneffective when placed next to each other. Meh, so goes it haha. I learned a lot though about how to treat a space, and the realities of what can be done in such a short time. There's another show coming up for the IVA honors kids in about a month, so hopefully I can come up with something more cohesive.

second painting on wooden board

If you ever wondered what I really did when I'm "taking notes" during class"

detail of embroidery project

favorite part of a tiny overdone self portrait

Also Thanks Angela Jaquith for helping me take photos! All the paintings are super glossy and a nightmare to photograph 

For Mairi

front

back: Rawr!

    
     The first of a few gifts I made for some friends. They were meant as Christmas presents but life got in the way, BUT FINALLY I finished them, so there are many close up shots on the horizon :) Thanks for waiting guys!
     Drawing with cotton thread is really thrilling. It's taxing, forces you to think about your materials and makes you take a leap of faith that little things really matter. Exploring the cultural and historical connotations of embroidery through photography is something I'm really interested in for future projects, which is a bit of a holla back at Georgia O'Keefe for wanting people to look more closely at small details.
     Close up images of the threadwork, particularly the back, really makes them threatening in a way...? hmmmmm.