Book Feature: Worn
Every now and then I come across a book that is so eye-opening it continues to rumble around in my mind long after I am done reading it. Worn: A People’s History of Clothing is just such a book. Author Sofi Thanhauser traces the social history of the clothes we wear and the materials we use to create them in a way that has prompted me to rethink a lot of what I knew about fabric.
Behind the Blue Gown: Artist’s Statement
Behind the Blue Gown is an experimental quilt expressing this experience of identity loss in a medical setting. Read on for my comprehensive artist’s statement for this piece.
Book feature: Let’s Move the Needle
“Craftivism” is a new name for something that has likely existed as long as humans have crafted. Artists are moved to create because they have things to express, and often the things they need and want to express are political in nature. Let’s Move the Needle: An Activism Handbook for Artists, Crafters, Creatives and Makers by Shannon Downey is an accessible resource for any creator who wants to be more intentional about using their creativity to build community and drive change.
Why Art Quilts?
As I work on preparing to re-open my web shop at the end of the month, I have been doing some reflecting on why I focus a lot of my work around small art quilts. I’d like to share with you some thoughts about why art quilts are important to my art practice, and also share some thoughts about why they might also be important to you.
Evolve: a journey in stitches
…In creating Evolve, I set out to represent my personal transformation journey by replacing parts of a black blazer with quilted sections, transforming it into a very different garment…
Playing (within) the rules
When a jazz musician improvises, they don’t just play any old thing that pops into their head. They start with the melody, rhythm and chord progressions that have been laid out by a composer, and they play around within that framework…
Work in Progress
The next in my series of small art quilts that combine patchwork squares with fluid hand stitching is still a work in progress, but it’s a good illustration of the process.
Stitch and go
I’m back with another in my series of small art quilts that combine patchwork squares with fluid hand stitching. In my last post I noted the portability of these projects. Today’s example was designed specifically to accompany me on a trip…
Follow your heArt
Last week I introduced you to a style of art quilt that combined patchwork squares with fluid hand stitching. The piece that got me started playing with this style happened somewhat by surprise.
Create with me
I love to dig into my scrap pile and find art. One of the ways I will often do that is to set myself some starting parameters and see where they take me…
