Update: It's ON for March's show and new direction in upcoming work.

So, wedding planning and the holidays kind of took over my brain for the last several weeks. I'm finally getting my head back on straight and in that, pushing a bunch of energy into some new pieces and finishing out old ones.

Behold: close to 2 solid hours of ironing. My most prized art tool is the iron, followed closely by the sewing machine. Without them, nothing would ever get done.

Firstly, I got this show coming up in March, which is a good impetus for me to finish out some of my more ethereal cell-related pieces:

French knots (personal favorite) and tiny stitches.

Secondly, I got this sweet book called "Queer Pulp" that discusses the "golden age" of the paperback book during the 50's and 60's. During this time a lot of books were published, some of the most popular (not just among homosexuals) were ones with gay or lesbian themes. Remember, this was the era when Kinsey's findings on human sexuality totally rocked our country (and helped lead to the "free love" era of the 60's and continues to shape our perceptions of sexuality and sexual orientation today). So, publishing houses were looking for a cheap cash cow and found it in the paperback and particularly with writers that had some more sensational themes within their texts, like a forbidden love affair. And mainstream readers (aka - straight people) often felt safe reading these books because publishing houses insisted that the homosexual love affairs end tragically (thereby reinforcing the lesson that homosexuality was bad, but you the reader could safely read about it all you wanted). Anyway, these double-standards from the past (as well as the double-standards today regarding the queer population in our country) really fascinate me. I'm engaged to get married, and I'm ecstatic that I get to be with Brendan for the rest of my life and benefit from this partnership, but when I think about the "what ifs?", like if I'd found my partner in another woman or if we were two gay men or what and if our eternal bond was recognized only in a few states and everything about our lives was conditional upon how others judged our union, I'd be heartbroken.

I wonder what this illustration is trying to say???


Where the magic happens.

Also, the linens I got were off of Ebay, already worked on (like those great yellow, green and purple flowers in the photo above), probably by someone's grandma. They're from the same time period as these paperbacks were coming out and I like the combination of the domestic "women's work" of the household linens (hankies, table runners, pillow cases, a couple of aprons) and reproducing in embroidery these book cover illustrations.

"Helen" was already sewn onto this piece by the previous owner. It's incredibly tight and delicate stitching, which I'm painstakingly trying to replicate in the line work I'm doing of the illustration from "Jesse, Man of the Streets". Whoever stitched "Helen" was a master. Picture can't capture just how mind-blowing the stitching is.

Jesse and Helen meet.

Anyway, the objective is to let the previous embroidery work help dictate how the book illustrations will be rendered, thereby harmoniously synthesizing these two past worlds into something new and (hopefully) poignant or at least interesting. I know I'm interested but I could be the only one. Meh, that's good enough for me. :)

A BUSY December

Man, I always forget how November/December gets booked solid EVERY YEAR no matter my efforts. Or because of them. Either way, I'm busy, which is good (and sometimes stressful).
So, coming up this month is a show that I'm pretty jazzed about:

It's been a co-production between my artist group, The Midwives Collective & Gallery, and Off The Wall Gallery of Dirty Frank's Bar. I like the idea of our alternative co-op space and an arty bar teaming up for a show. Perhaps more cross-over teamwork like this would be good for the city as a whole?
I'm also excited about doing a specifically textiles/fibers show because this past year Moore College of Art & Design (my alma mater) decided to drop Textiles as a major, and from my understanding, relegate it specifically to part of Fine Arts. I have a problem with this. I chose Textiles because (A) when we had to choose majors I had no interest in the other majors offered and no idea what Textiles was so I thought "hey, why not?"(plus I thought it weird that choosing a major in art school was required. I had figured that it'd be more like my experience in high school, where we got to learn about all different mediums without hindrance) and (B) upon joining into Textiles, I found that it was the most flexible of the majors I could have ever hoped for. Yes, you can go into a fine arts direction, but you can also go way into the industry of it. With that, you can focus on Fashion vs. Interiors. Or you can do both. Or you can be crafty, or you can take craft and transcend it's usual crafty stereotypes and synthesize Fine Art, Fashion, Interiors, whatever. You can employ sculptural or photo techniques, book techniques, installation. Basically, I found a department that was open and flexible with where you wanted your work to go, but also taught you lots of skills for making your vision a reality. It's a shame to me that the Texiles major (Moore's first major too) is being dropped.
But what I really like about our co-production of "The Whole 9 Yards" show with Off The Wall Gallery is that we on the panel decided to approach "textiles/fibers" from a more open viewpoint, rather than only putting "textiles/fibers" artists in the show. Granted, a lot of the work falls into that category, but we strove to show the breath of textiles and fibers, so that the viewer could see how they were experiencing textiles and fibers in their lives. There's photographs, sculptures, tapestries and other kinds of woven pieces, video, both hand-painted and digital print design, paintings, embroidery, etc. And most of the talent in the show is local, which makes me happy. I think more of a spotlight should be shone on local talent.

Another thing we're doing is an embroidery workshop on Sunday, Dec. 13th:

Later this month is my Midwives Holiday Party, which is exciting! I made my Secret Santa a really fun gift this year (at least it was really fun for me to make) and can't wait for her to open it! Plus, it's always nice to spend some time with the Collective just goofing off and playing, since there's so much business involved with running a space in our spare time.

Also, I got into a show at Desotorow Gallery ("Stitched") in Savannah, GA. It's the first time I ever applied for a show (whyyyyyy did I wait this long!?!) and got in! This bodes well and has totally boosted my confidence. My New Year's Resolution: Apply for more shows, and try to score 5-10 per year. That'd be amazing. That and get a job (helloooo economy! I heard rumor you're improving...).

Oh yeah, and Christmas this year is at our little apartment. I'm excited, but also a bit stressed. But it's good. Should be a relaxed and fun day with the family.

And after the holidays, our roll-out for our "Re-cognition" show (part of the mammoth Philagrafika international festival) begins. I have a ton of images to go through and start working for the printed materials as well as website stuff. Phew!