Ev-ev-ev-everyday I'm hustlin'

Stitching until my fingers are bloody and raw.

Frame 11, with chart.

Trying to meet my deadline for Aubrey Longley-Cook's X stitch animation project. Makin' progress, but it isn't fast. Stitching never is.

5/20/13 WIP, Frame 11.

Meanwhile, here is another artist's completed Frame 7. Love the colors by Jess Berhhart! For more images, check out Aubrey's site.

Frame 7, by Jess Bernhart, 2013. From Aubrey Longley-Cook's site.

 OK, back to the bloody fingers...

Insomnia stitching. 

Every day I'm hustlin'

WIP It Good

Making progress on Frame 11 for the Aubrey Longley-Cook x stitch animation. I'm crazy excited about this project. My deadline for my frame is the end of May, so I have some serious stitching to do.

WIP, Frame 11, as of 5/14/13.

Aubrey's collaborative project is part of his solo show at the Barbara Archer Gallery in Atlanta this September. He is developing a new website for the animation, which looks amazing in the beta version. As soon as it's available, I'll post about it. For now, let me say it has been SUCH a treat to work with Aubrey. Aside from his huge talent and drive, he is a warm, expansive man with incredible energy and passion for his art and for the artistic community. He is inspiring to me in terms of his discipline, his artwork and the encouragement he gives us.

Even though my family and friends are incredibly supportive of my sometimes unconventional decisions, when I told them that I'd be going to Atlanta three times in three weeks (in the middle of a full blown anemia flare), I think it seemed a bit nuts. But I am so glad I made the decision to participate in this project.

Fused glass plate for my mother.

With my friends Kate and Katherine, I took a fused glass workshop and made these plates. I gave the big one to my mom for Mother's Day and I kept the little one for myself. Now we have a matching set together.

I made myself a matching, smaller fused glass plate.

My doodles and experiments with paint, stitch and vintage fabric are continuing. I see these as sketches. They are a lot of fun to play with after a long day in the corporate salt mines.

Painted a grid in acrylics.

Playing with fill stitch. Here in French knots.

Watercolor paint, dripped ink and back stitch.

Headed to NYC next month to participate in another stitched art collaborative project created by artist Iviva Olenick. More to come on that wild, unique project!

Big Yes! Poltergeist, 2 times, by Amy Sheridan

Who else appreciates it when artists show their process? I love photos and posts about works-in-progress and geek out on sketches that lead to finished artwork.

By Amy Sheridan, 2012.

I was especially taken with these wonderful pieces by Amy Sheridan (a.k.a. Drop Dead Quirky.) The Poltergeist scene is such a strong, familiar cultural reference for so many of us. The way Amy rendered the creepy image of the little blond girl being lured into the TV into stitch is just masterful.

It was gorgeous stitching the first time she made it. But like many of us (ahem, me for example) Amy couldn't resist editing and re-imagining her work in a new piece. And she was generous enough to share both of them with us!

By Amy Sheridan, 2013.

Here is what she says about it.

What made you try this piece a second time?

When I made the first one, I had just learned how to do a French knot and wanted to do a piece that was mainly focused on that stitch. I knew I had the Hello World exhibition coming up and I thought it might be fun to do the piece over and see how much my stitching had changed in a year.

Can you tell us how your approach to the piece was different the second time around? Different stitches? How many strands did you use?

I used the same type of fabric and did most of the stitches in 3-strand. For the first piece, I used black only for the body of the TV. For the second one, I wanted to make the piece a little darker and give it more definition, so I used more black and solid outlines. I used only satin stitch as the fill stitch and I made the screen primarily white so it would give some more contrast against the black.

Be sure to visit Amy's shop and her flickr stream to see more of her twisted, clever, creative artwork.

Big yes, Amy!

"Big Yes!" is a blog feature where I share, with the artist’s permission, a piece of textile art that has opened my eyes to the possibility of what we can create.  When faced with things that are truly beautiful or moving or that fill me with awe, I try to say yes. More than that, Big Yes.