developing themes for my art
This mixed-media piece entitled Trade-off/Stand-off is embroidered with sewing-machine thread and wool. At 24"H x 36"W, the image is almost life-sized. The reference photo was was an unplanned shot of the models who were hired to help me realize planned mental images. Once uploaded to the computer, I began to imagine what might be going on here. Unique among my portraits, its story is told with feet rather than faces. The stance of each model says it all. The background is imagined as a checkerboard to add emphasis to the idea of the often adversarial positions we can find ourselves in in romantic relationships.
Note the differences between the male and female squares of earth (manicured versus weedy). Did she bleed him dry? Did he arrive with no more than a smile on his face? Did he willingly give his all to make her happy? Are women the natural caretakers of the earth? You decide. See also the text in the form of trees on the horizon ("Always so") and compare the clothing each wears (and doesn't wear). Don't overlook the fact that the lacings of the woman's shoes not only bind them to her feet but each ankle to the other. The butterfly and flower stand for instinctual, eternal attraction between male and female.
Concepts such as these rarely come together full-blown before I get started stitching but when I spend weeks or months creating an embroidery, there's plenty time to think. Usually, new ideas present themselves during the process. When some of them seem superior to parts of the original conception, they're re-worked.
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Note the differences between the male and female squares of earth (manicured versus weedy). Did she bleed him dry? Did he arrive with no more than a smile on his face? Did he willingly give his all to make her happy? Are women the natural caretakers of the earth? You decide. See also the text in the form of trees on the horizon ("Always so") and compare the clothing each wears (and doesn't wear). Don't overlook the fact that the lacings of the woman's shoes not only bind them to her feet but each ankle to the other. The butterfly and flower stand for instinctual, eternal attraction between male and female.
Concepts such as these rarely come together full-blown before I get started stitching but when I spend weeks or months creating an embroidery, there's plenty time to think. Usually, new ideas present themselves during the process. When some of them seem superior to parts of the original conception, they're re-worked.
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I'll Always Love You
This piece was the outcome of a private commission. The client wanted a portrait of her mother and offered two photographs from which to achieve a likeness. In one of them, her mother was seated in an urban garden. I decided to use a garden setting as an imaginary backdrop for the portrait. After discovering that her mother had been a great fan of Ella Fitzgerald, I thought to include a reference to one of Ella's songs. Instead of re-creating the leaves of the plants, those leaves are depicted as words from the lyrics of Come Rain or Come Shine by Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer. "I'll always love you, like nobody's loved you, come rain or come shine." What better way of capturing the love between mother and daughter?
The two reference photographs were small and somewhat indistinct. Neither was in color. I used the client's own coloring as a basis from which to start. Instead of using a line drawing as I usually would when stitching with sewing machine thread, cross-hatching was used to give the face a more tangible fleshiness.
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This piece was the outcome of a private commission. The client wanted a portrait of her mother and offered two photographs from which to achieve a likeness. In one of them, her mother was seated in an urban garden. I decided to use a garden setting as an imaginary backdrop for the portrait. After discovering that her mother had been a great fan of Ella Fitzgerald, I thought to include a reference to one of Ella's songs. Instead of re-creating the leaves of the plants, those leaves are depicted as words from the lyrics of Come Rain or Come Shine by Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer. "I'll always love you, like nobody's loved you, come rain or come shine." What better way of capturing the love between mother and daughter?
The two reference photographs were small and somewhat indistinct. Neither was in color. I used the client's own coloring as a basis from which to start. Instead of using a line drawing as I usually would when stitching with sewing machine thread, cross-hatching was used to give the face a more tangible fleshiness.
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I enjoy commenting on the pitfalls of faulty or nonexistent reasoning that have gotten me mired in situations from which I long to extricate myself. In my better moments, I realize that if I get out of my own way, I can attain almost anything I desire. This piece speaks of that process. Teacup Fishing evolved over the course of a few years. The original visual conception (a woman fishing out of a teacup) descended out of the blue while I was working on something else. This rough sketch was made to aid memory. A year or so passed before I was able to photograph my sister, Bebe, in that pose. Fishing is symbolic of our search for and acquisition of the good things in life. Very often we don't feel it's possible for us to have the possessions or circumstances others have because of our class, lack of education, talent, beauty, size, gender or ethnic group membership. To escape the pain of not-having, we often distract ourselves (here symbolized by magazine reading but it could be substance abuse, workaholism or any number of unexamined activities). Amidst distraction, our search is only half-hearted. We seek and accept less, thus limiting our own good fortune. Life in its abundance (symbolized in the finished piece by a large body of water) places no such limitations on us. We have only to keep trying -- in the right location -- and stay alert for opportunities (which usually arrive one step at a time as we prepare ourselves with thought and experience.) By the way, the idea of abundance doesn't only apply financially. We may wish for supportive relationships, vibrant good health or a fulfilling lifestyle. These are possible too, when approached with an open mind, a willing heart and effort.
Reference photos were taken in an interior stairwell of Bebe's house and the first preliminary drawings used that set-up. There were no patterns on the clothing or walls but I decided patterns might make the piece more interesting. Using markers, I played around with various colors and patterns. I imagined a lake visible through the window, so the window was enlarged to make the water more obvious. When I felt satisfied with the results, the drawing, now with a small table added under the teacup, was transferred to the fabric.
Here is the drawing on fabric, pretty much as it was in the color study just above. Notice the grid drawn in pencil. It's used to replicate the proportions of the simplest of the preparatory drawings on paper. The window on the left and the baseboard on the right show that it is clearly imagined as an interior study.
The canvas-stretcher is visible because I usually staple the fabric on behind it. This keeps me from leaving too many fingerprints on top of the fabric while handling it from day to day.
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By the time I'd stitched the image below on the right, I realized that it would be more dramatic to place the subject outside the house, closer to the water, perhaps seated on a pier. Also, I've decided against complicating things with too many patterns.
The canvas-stretcher is visible because I usually staple the fabric on behind it. This keeps me from leaving too many fingerprints on top of the fabric while handling it from day to day.
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By the time I'd stitched the image below on the right, I realized that it would be more dramatic to place the subject outside the house, closer to the water, perhaps seated on a pier. Also, I've decided against complicating things with too many patterns.
The 4"x6" non-digital photos and the line- drawing made from them seemed good enough until the image was transferred to taut fabric. Once on fabric the image was 58"x31", much larger. Errors were much more obvious yet could not be erased easily. I fooled around some and made it worse but, after that much time, my heart was in it and I couldn't turn back. So I started stitching the feet and hoped for the best.
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I decided to keep the idea of the wood-framed pier and the table to raise the cup closer to the figure. A little later, I thought that positioning the figure on a rocky ledge along the water's edge (the wavy dotted line) might better echo the distant islands. Hm,m,m,m.
Taking time to come to a decision, I returned to tackle the face again. |
In order to get more visual information, I re-shot and re-drew the next time Bebe visited my house. |
Later on, the figure would look more like Bebe.
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At this point, I've decided a boat would make the theme even more ironic. She shouldn't be near the water; she should be on it! The fabric is already cut so the new design must fit it and I need to figure out what a row-boat's interior would look like when viewed from the same direction my photo was shot. I have to imagine shape, size, depth of the boat, color and shadows since more than half of the stitching is already in place. When I guess wrongly, I have to pull out the stitches and re-apply them. The idea of using a table has by this time been discarded and the cup -- once again on the floor --has no saucer beneath it.
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From the struggle above, you can see the importance of sufficient preparation. There is no shortcut.
Teacup Fishing is finished.
Teacup Fishing is finished.