The Making of Changing Hands, Stitching Stories
Greetings to my artist friends, family, collectors and friends:
I am finally writing my blog/newsletter and hope you don’t object to receiving a copy!
2019 has been a busy year for me personally and creatively, so I want to share a few highlights and bring you up to date on the direction I am heading now and into 2020. I am now going to share a story of how my design process works. There isn’t a formula per se but experimenting rather like a scientist to see if it fits in my creative world.
I made a New Year’s Resolution in Jan. 2019 to use up a major portion of the larger materials I have up-cycled for my art. Last Jan. 2019 I pulled out the two pieces of old picket fencing I found in Indiana in 2013 and have moved around the country with me. I bought them for $3.00 each at an antique farm store off the Interstate between Davenport, Iowa and Cincinnati, Ohio.
I brought one to the January 2019 Surface Design Seattle meeting for suggestions since I didn’t know much about weaving. Several members said I would have to add boards in order to weave and two suggested I paint it red since the traces of barn red were fading. I actually went to Home Depot and had some boards cut to fit and red paint made, though painting them didn’t feel right to me.
I still wasn’t sure about how to start til a friend stopped over who asked about the board on my wall. I shared I was going to paint them and add boards and he said “You know you bought them because you liked the way they looked, so you don’t have to alter them at all.” I felt good about his comments and let go of suggestions to paint and add new wood. Lesson in this was for me to follow my own creative instincts vs other artists whose style is way different from mine.
When I first saw the 2 pieces of fence I wondered who had used them as a borders and boundaries?
How did I start to figure out how I can use them? I hung one on the wall of my home studio and let the design process start. I decided to hang 8 different colors for the little slots on the fence. What colors and fabrics to use? I chose my colors—yellows, purples, blues, blue greens, reds, oranges, blacks and whites. I wasn’t sure if I should use a long strip of one piece of fabric and stitch on it or what, so I walked away from the fence for a day or two to think about it.
I caught a cold in late Feb, 2019 and when I finally went to the doctor in late March he told me I had pneumonia. I got delayed but eventually began working on little pieces at a time. It actually was a good diversion.
As most of you know, I repurpose, recycle, and up-cycle nearly 95% of the materials I use, sourcing them at recycle outlets like Goodwill and donations from friends and designers. I often wonder where the fabric originated? Who made it and how many hands have touched it? I will never know when and where the fabric was made, how it got made into a pillow sham, skirt, etc, so I decided to tell my own stories using many pieces of fabric. I created mini collages on each 30 inch strip. I sewed on the machine and did hand embroidery. I named it CHANGING HANDS, STITCHING STORIES.
In May I brought it to Doug, my 2+3D photographer and he said “I never have any idea what you are going to turn up with!”
I had selected several juried art shows that I wanted to enter the piece in and I did. I entered it into a juried show in NYC at Viridian Artists in Chelsea and I was SO HAPPY when I received the acceptance email. I have paused my art career because of moving and rheumatoid arthritis in my hands and wrists. I showed in the Frank J Miele Contemporary Folk Art Gallery in NYC but it closed after the market crashed in 2007, so returning to NYC felt really great.
