Inspired by: Nick Cave's Heard

Heard NY was magic! Seriously, magic. You know that feeling when you get lost in the moment of something so beautiful, so inspiring, and joyful? That's kind of what Nick Cave's Heard was for me.

I'm a big fan of Cave's work, but have never seen it in action. His elaborate costumes are heavily embellished constructions not just to be worn, but to have a movement of their own, and to make sound. These horses were costumes for two people made of thousands of stands of colorful raffia. I can't imagine the kind of coordination it took for them to become a single moving horse. It was amazing to see the dancers come out, transform right in front of the crowd into a horse, with it's own personality, and distinctly horse-like movements. 

I think, as an adult we lose a bit of our sense of wonder, because life is just so busy and stressful. For this short performance reality was suspended. There were colorful horses frolicking in Grand Central. Raffia swamp people danced their hearts out. I accidentally sat in the kids section, which made it really fun! The kids yelled out "Horsey!" and screamed with delight, and the horses paid special attention to the children allowing the kids to pet them. I was totally one of those happy kids petting the horseys...

I really wanted to share the experience with those of you who couldn't be in NY. Nothing beats being there, but hopefully these videos are the next best thing. More here on my YouTube page....

Isn't this amazing?!

Inspired by: Vintage Books

Sometimes when I'm stumped with a certain project or just looking for inspiration I'll turn to my collection of vintage books (I've shared this before). They are mostly old discarded library books, second hand or street finds on all kinds of subjects, but my favorites are science and children's books. I love the patina of an old page, scientific diagrams and the color and style of children's illustrations. 

I'll pull a different set of books out each time, and just flip through the pages. It's an enjoyable practice in itself, but it's also a spring board for developing ideas in a kind of serendipitous way. I pulled this set of books out when I was making the patterns for Brooklyn Craft Camp and it also lead to another idea I'll share soon...

What are some things you do when you're stumped and looking for inspiration?

Inspired by: Candace Hicks

Never enough time, right? I just couldn't fathom the time it took Candace Hicks to make these stitched composition books I checked out at the Center for Book Arts last week. Candace gave an artist talk and I was impressed by her painstaking work and punny, self-deprecating humor.

Every line of the canvas pages, every letter and the covers are all stitched by hand. She has a full time job, a kid, and reads A LOT. All the stitched books are basically about the books she reads. Her stitched composition books document the coincidences she finds in her readings from one book to the next, like new words or an odd phrase that repeats like, "stuffed mountain lion" or "black currant lozenge".

Some of the books are massive, like 2 x 3'. Turning the pages is like exploring a game, because each has some new element to investigate; zippers revealing the back of a page, folds, pockets and of course the text itself.

If you're in NY you should go see/touch/read these fabric books!

Here are some vine videos I took to give you a sense of what flipping through the pages is like...

Inspired by Jose Romussi....

Sometimes you are scrolling along the endless feed of pinterest & get stopped dead in your interwed tracks, like when I came across Jose Romussi's embroidered vintage ballerinas & collages. I love how painterly these embroidery are through simple but exact stitches, color & movement. Also, who doesn't love a man who embroiders?

All images courtesy of the artist. Lots more work to check out by Romussi on his flickr & his site. 

Inspired by Ghada Amer

Barbie Loves Ken, Ken Loves Barbie, 1963

Ghada Amer's work inspired my Creative Art Making workshop that's coming up this Saturday at the  Brooklyn Museum. I was asked to pick a work of art in the museum's collection to base the project on and picked the piece below.  I was immediately drawn to how textural, and three dimensional her work is, even on a flat canvas. You want to touch it. You want to investigate it, to get closer and pull the threads (at least I do). It also flips your exceptions (love when that happens!). Amer's imagery is often, uh adult, lets say, which definitely is not the norm with embroidery. 

I'll be sharing more of her work, talking art & inspiration, and of course teaching some stitching at the workshop. Would love to make some art with you if you're in NY! You can reserve a spot here.

Heather's Degradé, 2006

The New Albers, 2002

Unders the Sea at Anthropologie...

This nautical window display at Anthropologie at 30 Rock blew me away with it's creative recycling...

Love that such ordinary materials could transform into something so other worldly. Paper barnacles and coral on a sunken ship of cardboard, a bottle cap whale fin, sea urchins of brightly painted wood skewers in a tight bunch, and glass lightbulbs were perfectly glossy bubbles.





Amazing, right?!

They talk a bit about their collaboration with Wyland for Earth Day on their site here. It's accompanied by some ridiculously beautiful faux underwater imagery.

Inspired by beautiful tattered rags...

...or Boro, Japanese for "tattered rags".



































These vintage Japanese cloths are a lot like American quilts, but were made to be used, a lot. What I really love about them is that all the layered fabrics and textured stitches are not just an aesthetic choice, but traces of their use and the care taken to repair them. The more use, the more patches and stitches, the more history and beauty. No wonder these pieces are so expensive. I'd love one, especially an indo one on my bed.

All images via Kimonoboy & more here on Japanese textile history. 

Inspired by...

the photography of Hideaki Hamada...

I can just hear the whir of the fan and their little kid distorted Darth Vader voices and feel that warm sun. Makes me want to be a kid again! I fell hard for Hideaki Hamada's images of his sons. They encapsulate so well the sense of everyday wonder and adventure of being a kid. These brother's seem so close. I wish I had a sibling that I could have grown up with, just like these two, discovering the world together! And, another thing I love is that a lot of his work is shot on film.

There are so many sweet photographs of these boys on Hideaki Hamada flickr and blog. Also, don't you just want to hang out with this family?! 

Calling you out...

And by you, I mean, me. Working for myself and from home should not be taken for granted, and truthfully, sometimes I do.  It can be difficult to navigate business/freelancing,  and to balance work/life. But I also have an amazing mount of flexibility, like being able to foster a dog in need or to travel home when I needed to be with my family.

I've heard that one of the secrets to happiness is being grateful for what you have. I know it's not that easy, so I hope that this doesn't sound trite, but taking this pic did change my mood. To remove myself from my work for a second, to step back and see the light pooling in and how comfy this scene was in my living room, I felt grateful.

Happy Friday friends!

typewriter love...

I have such fondness for these clunky machines, and have been slowly collecting them. When I do my letter service I'm amazed by how new and novel a typewriter can be. Some, mostly children,  have never seen one before in real life. The appeal to me is definite sound & mark. There's no delete, so you have to really think about your text.

This video is all about the typewriter renaissance and features Brady & Kowalski, a great local (if you're in NY) source for beautiful vintage machines. Etsy always has great vintage finds too.

AND... how great is this how to paper typewriter project from Jacqueline Wagner!? It's sooo good! found via pinterest...

I found this type-a-tune at Brimfield... 

AND AND... this may be one of my all time faves ever ever, Bug hammin it up hard in a typewriter box. Can you believe that this was found in the trash and has a typewritten message taped to it "Good things come in small packages."? Perfect.

Hope these typewriters inspire you today!!

Be like a boomerang and make!

I know I've blogged about Jillian Tamaki's stitched covers for Penguin Threads before, and no doubt you've seen these amazing pieces on the interwebs, so fast forward to the launch party at Purl Soho....

It was packed! People were snatching up books and there was a line to see the original embroideries, which were INCREDIBLE to see in person. Damn me for forgetting my camera! The artist was in conversation with Elda Rotor, Associate Publisher and Editorial Director at Penguin. It was interesting to learn that the whole idea started when the Creative Director, Paul Buckley, saw this very embroidery piece by Erin Paisley on a little site called Etsy!

side note: this was Lost at Sea curated by Kristen Rask at Gallery Hanahou. I had a few pieces in this show too!

The most inspiring part of the talk was how Jillian, an illustrator, was found by Penguin - As a personal project she had made a quilt with stitched monsters that took forever. Just to share it she put it on her blog, and after seeing this amazing quilt Penguin's Creative Director sought her out. She said...

sometimes just putting something out in the world, you can have something come back to you

The take away for me was - Be weird. Be brave. Make something from you, of you, what ever it is that inspires you. Take risks and then share it! You never know what it may bring you....

via Jillian Tamaki

Check out this Penguin video for a very similar conversation to the one at Purl. 

Aren't those monsters rad?! 

why do you....

I like to sit crossed legged on the floor, pull a stack of my old books out, and flip through them for inspiration. Today I came across The Art of Eating by M.F.K Fisher and slipped into reading bits and pieces for a while. This passage about why she writes about food got me thinking about why any of us do what we do? Why is it important to us? How did we come to it?

(Click the photograph to view it larger on Flickr.)

AND, check out that author photograph by Man Ray!

stay creative....

Had to share this list!

via Today and Tomorrow   

remember me....

Follow my blog with bloglovin

Just set myself up on Bloglovin, hence the prefaced text & link.

Spent the day all over the place running errands.  I've got lots of projects I'm working on and will be teaching, more on all this soon.  Bopping around on the interwebs today I came across this post by Holly on Decor8. She writes in the last paragraph...

 I have come to realize over the past five years that blogging with intention, with heart, with passion is always my goal — it is so much more rewarding over simply tossing up posts for the sake of writing something. For me, a blog is a place to communicate feelings, a vision, talk about inspirations, ideas, goals, dreams… I think that is what makes a great blog, well, great. What do you think?

I agree!  Holly inspired me to put a little more of my voice here.  I read a lot of blogs, mainly I browse, I guess, looking for inspiration, checking what's going on right now, and seeking some sort of connection to the craft community I'm part of.  I do sometimes feel overwhelmed by the sheer volume of visuals and text and, I'm kinda ashamed to say it, but it can stress me out. There are so many talented, creative, inspiring people out there! It's like going to a museum and looking so closely at everything. After awhile it's information overload and I don't "see" anymore.

That said, I'm so grateful to the people who visit my blog, who are reading this now, Hello. Thank you! It means a lot to me to be able to have a voice in this virtual community and share a wee bit of my work & life. I hope that I can share something with you that is inspiring, or that at least brightens your day a bit.

drop your jaw embroidery....

These Penguin book covers by Jillian Tamaki are stunning, so full of detail - just beautiful. There are so many different types of stitches and complex details! Even the little Penguin logo seems to be embroidered- ahh-maz-zing! I gush, I gush, but just look....

Right, see? amazing! My favorite has to be the Emma cover - that braided hair - or the Black Beauty back cover. Seeing the finished pieces you can tell so much time and work went into the pieces, and the above work-in-progress image give you an appreciation for the many, many hours of hand embroidery involved one stitch at a time - sore hands, sore neck, back aches and all.

find Jillian Tamaki here: website, (images via) Jillian Tamaki Sketchblog, etc.
found via: my love for you.