print 'n stitch

very excited about my new skill with screen printing. for one of my classes, we had to make a two-sided card to give out to prospective students. one side of the card was to show them the kind of work they might be doing in our print department. the other side was to be an artist statement. on the one side i screen printed some organic shapes from things hanging around my studio. on the other side i stitched and drew on mylar and shot the screen through the mylar. then i used my sewing machine to stitch through the printmaking paper following the lines of the organic shapes. i made 100 of these guys. my first foray into such a large edition. very fun and satisfying.

i took a one-week intensive screen printing class last month with the GREAT kevin townsend. take a class with kevin if you get the chance! he is a fabo teacher!

my work at space gallery

my work is hanging in a show at space gallery in portland maine. tonight was the opening. the piece i had hanging was embroidered text messages. i forgot to go to the opening:( the show will be up for another week or two or three.

home sweet home - studio

happy new year to all! here are a few photos of my comfy small studio in portland maine (yay!). swamped with work at the great maine college of art and having a great time. more pix to follow.

embroidery hanging in a show

my work is hanging in a show for BFA students at the maine college of art.

letting go

here is a little drawing of ME. i am at a bit of a crossroads with school and career and not sure which way to go. i recently lost my job at the art center. the opus school of textile arts, where i was a BA (hons) student, closed a few months ago. i can't even give a link to that anymore, as they have virtually disappeared, after taking our course money. another program has opened in its place, named after the creative and inspiring late julia caprara but i have been hesitant to join, as i am not sure that distance learning was to my advantage. so i applied to and was ACCEPTED to an MFA program at the great and wonderful maine college of art, except now i am trying to figure out how to pay for it. anyway, i have been meditating everyday and writing my gratitude list and letting go. xo to all!

portland and baltimore in stitch

for my level 1 opus personal specialism i was working in the theme of cities and combined my two favorite cities - portland maine and baltimore maryland. this piece has wrapped wire, stitched bicycle tubes and a background of maps and a painted cereal box!

contrived work?

i am exploring the idea of contrived work...when is my work contrived and when is it me? here is a piece i just submitted to a show called GATHERING. i was very excited about the work as i was planning and working on it, but the final product is kind of 'so-so.' i am not too wild about it. i guess that 'so-so' work is ok if i am just making a sample for a course, but wondering what happens to my work when it is planned vs when i am doing it just for fun and experimentation? my work that is done just-for-fun seems so much more me and more spontaneous... what do you think? is there a difference between your spontaneous work and your planned work?

stitching cities

working on my current opus module, focusing on the appearance of line in a cityscape. i took images of the two cities where i spend most of my time: baltimore, maryland and portland, maine. i combined the images in several mediums: photocopies of photographs, wire and stitch. more exploration on cities to come!

line drawing in stitch

i have been working on stitching some of my line drawings of everyday life. here is a sketch of BH and me having lunch last year in a park when we were living in portland, maine. BH is eating his usual lunch time hotdog and i am having vegan food from little lads.

while i was working on this piece i discovered a kindred stitching spirit in the work of Iviva Olenick.

more recycled sweaters

my good friend in portland maine rescued an orange sweater from a yard sale and here is a doll i made for her from that sweater and a few others. since the doll, named 'funny,' will be living in maine, she needed a vest to keep her warm. here is a picture of her with the vest and without...and the beautiful portland head lighthouse in the background.

crocheted scarf!

oh, my gosh. i have sooo much homework, i definitely don't have time for craftiness. but craftiness kept calling my name. and it is such a good stress reliever. plus, who doesn't need a new crocheted granny-square scarf for the start of a new school year?
this is made with beautiful mission falls 1824 cotton yarn...good for three seasons, which is what we have here in maine.

sloth-er takes his bike for a ferry ride

an early fall day and sloth-er decides to put his bike on the ferry and go island hopping.

...and they lived happily ever after

yes, the real big hiney (of the 5'10" variety) and the real irritable (5'5") are finally and forever united in beautiful portland maine! love, love, love all day long.

it's happening all over town...

she's back!

irritable has been found! she was just on her way to college, where she will be starting classes soon. she was soooo happy to see big hiney that she took him to visit their friend, the lobster. all is well in love-ville. whew!

shut-up monkey tries to go sailing

shut-up decided to head down to the local marina. with winds at 20-25 knots, she thought it would be a good day to go sailing. the first bad sign was that the wind messed up her hair. then she couldn't even sit up. so she decided just to watch the puffy clouds go by.

love drawings

working on making drawings of things that are in my head, rather than drawing from seeing. this is what's in my head today...everyday.

ethiopian embroidery

i have been taking a class in ethiopian embroidery at the portland fiber gallery. the stitches we have been using are all chain stitch. i have never made my embroidery this beautiful or meticulous. look - even the backs are neat! i love learning someone else's technique as if i am a beginner.