This winter I started making pieces on fabric. Embroidering prints on fabric, it adds a dimension to the piece that just cant be done with paper. The print has a body, it moves, it has textures. This really deepened the sense of the object. Hanging on my walls, the pieces move and change far more than a framed piece of paper ever could. A gentle breeze gives a soft wave, and rush past to get out of the house almost adds new folds.
My next project is probably going to be larger in scale, I am really looking forward to pushing that aspect of my work with fabric. Probably a street scene in flat perspective, with embroidery throughout the printing, overlapping and adding abundance to the scene.
Moving forward into spring, driving with the windows open and cruising slowly. Oxalis flowers are blooming, little mounds of clover beneath their yellow flowers.
See ya in the field.
Moving forward into spring, the rain has let up a bit. The air is smelling sweet like spring in California only can. I am hoping to make some larger and more intricate tapestries. I really want to play more with embroidery over the printed image, making both mediums have a direct conversation. I am also planning to print on some drop cloths that I found, and to work with the paint and stains that are on them.
This work is slow, and it is difficult to allow that to hold my space. Yet it is a welcome mindset switch to make an object that explicitly takes time. Recently I gave a tapestry to my friend Trent for his birthday, and among the sweetness he and I felt about it, he emphasized the time that I had to spend to make it. I embroidered a lot of text for his piece, which was really a wonderful thing to try. It was very slow to write with thread, but so worth it as the text really was alive, almost reading itself off the fabric.
