Oops, not the best photo quality for these almost done pieces, but even when they are done, they won’t really be done, since they are part of a larger piece called “Value Added.” Stay tuned, school is in session, and after more than a year, I will be making my own work again–YAY!
Okay, as much as I love them, French Knots don’t work everywhere. This is an old wool that belonged to my grandmother, Battista Battista (her real name). It is a very loose weave so was tricky to stitch into. Also, I used a hoop this time, which I never do anymore, I mostly work with a heavy stabilizer behind my fabric and prefer it. Also, just to make these knots harder, I used Frosty Rays, which looks great, but can be persnickety. Also, I worked on the knots in a waiting room filled with the sound of old style Muzak.
I cut off my knots, kept my Frosty Rays, and went with a running stitch.
This priceless work of art has been removed from the tree at the front of my house. It has actually been doing quite well on the plant, the leaf was thriving despite my embroidery efforts. I suspect that once the leaf starts drying out and shrinking, the stitched words will become a big unreadable tangle of thread.
This wee little piece was stolen from my studio at school the day after I made it (jan 07). Did the perpetrator need to the money, or did they just really agree with the sentiment?
I have had it with reading about art and not actually making art. Last weekend I threw down my books and picked up my needles and sat on my front sidewalk and stitched. It feels so good.
Handsome husband says he hears people emphatically shouting “More” “Bigger” and “All natural” as they walk by.
It feels like I’ve been working on this forever, and I almost have been. I started it sometime last summer but didn’t touch it for about 6 months. The letters are filled in with teeny tiny french knots. I have a few long plane flights ahead of me, so I am hoping to get a few more letters filled in by the end of the month.
I based this logo on the hot dog truck we saw in Toronto last summer.
So far this term at school, I have no work of my own to show. This is disappointing because I have been chomping at the bit to get into my own stuff, especially after 10 months of making which only involved making food. One class is theory and discussion based. My other class is very interesting. We are working in conjunction with Union Mission of Savannah and their program called Growing Hope, which is one of only a few art programs for the homeless in the whole country.
As a class, we were challenged to work with the clients of Union Mission to come up with design solutions for bedding issues. Our focus has been split into three groups: the needs of the people sleeping rough on the street, the needs of those living in a shelter and the needs of those in transitional housing, trying to get back on their feet. My group is charged to work with the group in transition.
After several conversations, we have determined that the needs of this transitional group are significantly more psychological than any of the others. They are looking for privacy and escape, within a group and without substances.
With this in mind, we have created ACME better bedpods. For more information and more pictures, please check out our blog.
This is classmate Joemy Buschur and I setting up our ACME better bedpod for a critique. This is still very much a work in progress. We have a long way to go before we head to ICFF (International Contemporary Furniture Fair) in New York City next month.
In my constant vigil to be aware of all of the branding and logos that inundate my visual field, I have begun to fight back with a logo of my own. Not content to see it on rubber stamps and business cards, I have taken it one step further. I have branded my own self with my own brand.
The purple logo on the left has been machine embroidered (free motion), while the logo on the right has been tattooed on my right wrist.
Please note the halal cow in the bottom left hand corner of this picture I took in Sharm el Sheik, Egypt in November.
Oh, you say you can’t see it, how about a close up…
Please note the vegetarian cow in the center of this picture taken in the square by my house in March…
…and you are patient to wait so long for this post.
I am back from southeast Asia and back in Savannah. The flowers have gone wild and my brain has gone to mush. No time to indulge the dingbat, but have to knuckle down and hit the books/art supplies since school has started again.
(pic from broughton street)
Removing and covering the labels wasn’t enough. Despite all of my efforts and hard work, I still referred to some of my galley appliances by their manufacturer name. It became clear that they all needed renaming. I tried random names, like Mortimer and Randolph, but that didn’t seem to stick. I lived with the names covered up and let my appliances just be themselves. (Electrical tape sticks through repeated washing, yet comes off when you want it to, and is available in a variety of colors.)
One day, I thought of my grandmother and her grandmother and wondered what they would think of the fancy schmancy equipment I have at my fingertips, from a walk in freezer to an ice cream maker, to a steamer oven. I though they would be pretty happy to put dinner on the table every night with the help of an immersion blender ( how did we live without them) or a bread maker.
And thus my path revealed itself.
Every day in my work now I am assisted by the women of my family who came before me: Delia and Evalina, Tista, Betty Ann, Mavis, Martha, Bridie, “Cookie Tootsie and Freddie” (all one) and Mrs Arugala; among others. I borrowed some names from my fellow crew members because a) they really wanted to be part of it and b) i thought it might help mitigate any talk of me being off my noodle for relabeling every electric device in the galley. I have kept the labeling at bay on some of the larger items (including the $4000 oven that stopped working after two months on board) for aesthetic and professional purposes, but refer to them by their new names.
