Watercolor, 2021, 18” x 24”
Watercolor, 2021, 18” x 24”
Watercolor, 2021, 18” x 24”
Watercolor, 2023, 18” x 24”
Watercolor, 2023, 18” x 24”
Watercolor, 2023, 18” x 24”
Watercolor, 2023, 18” x 24”
Watercolor, 2023, 18” x 24”
Watercolor, 2023, 18” x 24”
Watercolor on Arches Aquarelle 140lb cold press paper; 100% cotton, 2021, 19.5” x 14.5”
Watercolor and India Ink on paper, 2021, 12” x 9”
Water color and India Ink on paper, 2021, 12’ x 9”
Water color and India Ink on paper, 2021, 12” x 9”
Water color and India Ink on paper, 2021, 12” x 9”
Water color and India Ink on on Arches 140 lb 100 cotton cold press watercolor paper, 2021, 12” x 9”
Water color and India Ink on Arches140 lb 100 cotton cold press watercolor paper, 2021, 9” x 12”
Water color and India Ink on paper, 2021, 12” x 9”
Water color and India Ink on paper, 2021, 12” x 9”
Watercolor on Canson 140 lb paper
5.5” x 8.5” or 14cm x 21,6cm
Water color on Canson 140 lb water color paper
5.5” x 8.5” or 14cm x 21,6cm
Water color on Canson 140 lb water color paper
5.5” x 8.5” or 14cm x 21,6cm
Orbits and Excavations: Stitched Book is my second stitched fabric book. Begun in 2023 and finished in 2024, it combines the conventions of previous works with new iconography and methods. There is a front and back interplay with some of the stitching, and I’ve used appliqué and reverse appliqué to highlight aspects of the dyed elements. The zenith/daisy shape is new, as is the use of the dark organza. During my residency at Farwell House last summer (2023), I saw how my drawings on paper are reflected in the stitched work.
This book measures approximately 13.5” high by 16” wide. It consists of a front and back cover and seven spreads. The fabrics are upcycled cotton and linen dyed in walnut baths with some rust elements. The thread is hand-dyed in walnut or black bean, and there are some vintage threads as well. Vintage dress elements are incorporated as are black and walnut-dyed silk organza.
I made Book of Stitches over a period of five years, from 2018 through 2023. I started it as a way to increase my stitch vocabulary, creating new methods and patterns for myself that I could carry into other works. My intention was that the two sides of the page would relate to each other, front and back, reflecting the unseen side while each page is also its own composition.
Book of Stitches consists of four spreads and a front and back cover. It measures approximately 11” high by 15.5” wide. It is made from upcycled cotton and linen, hand-dyed in black walnut, turmeric, indigo and hibiscus, with some rust-dyed elements as well. The threads were hand-dyed in indigo, black walnut, red onion skin, marigold or black beans. The black thread is vintage linen thread.
Walnut-dyed and iron-mordanted cotton, linen, vintage thread
55” x 42”
2022
Linen and upcycled cotton sheet wrapped with metal pieces, including a chicken feeder guide, and dyed in walnut bath. Layered with cotton flannel and stitched with vintage linen and silk thread.
Walnut-dyed and iron-mordanted cotton, linen, vintage thread
55” x 42”
2022
Linen and upcycled cotton sheet wrapped with metal pieces, including a chicken feeder guide, and dyed in walnut bath. Layered with cotton flannel and stitched with vintage linen and silk thread.
Walnut-dyed and iron-mordanted cotton, linen, vintage thread
55” x 42”
2022
Linen and upcycled cotton sheet wrapped with metal pieces, including a chicken feeder guide, and dyed in walnut bath. Layered with cotton flannel and stitched with vintage linen and silk thread.
Approx. 16” H x 23” W
2023
Walnut-dyed repurposed cotton and linen, hand-dyed and vintage thread
Approx. 16” H x 23” W
2023
Walnut-dyed repurposed cotton and linen, hand-dyed and vintage thread
13.5” H x 17.5” W
2023
Walnut-dyed repurposed cotton and linen, hand-dyed thread, reverse applique
18” H x 24” W
2023
Walnut-dyed, iron-mordanted repurposed linen
20” H x 20” W
2023
Walnut-dyed, iron-mordanted repurposed linen, left in garden for a winter, attached to walnut/iron dyed linen with vintage thread
Approx. 41” x 31.5”
2023
Walnut-dyed repurposed cotton and linen, cyanotype on cotton, reverse appliqued
Approx. 26” H x 23” W
2022
Walnut- and rust-dyed repurposed cotton and linen
20.5” x 21”
hand- and rust-dyed linen, hand-dyed thread, 2018
20.5” x 21”
hand- and rust-dyed linen, hand-dyed thread, 2018
20.5” x 21”
hand- and rust-dyed linen, hand-dyed thread, 2018
Hand- and rust-dyed linen, hand-dyed thread, 2020
15.5” x 25”
Hand- and rust-dyed linen, hand-dyed thread
15.5” x 25”
11.25” H x 11.75” W
2021
Indigo and walnut-dyed cotton and linen, reverse appliquéd, hand-dyed thread
11.25” H x 11.75” W
2021
Indigo and walnut-dyed cotton and linen, reverse appliquéd, hand-dyed thread
17.25” H x 14.5” W
2021
Walnut-dyed, iron-mordanted repurposed linen and cotton, reverse appliquéd, vintage thread
45” H x 30” W x approx. 4” D
2024/ongoing
Vintage crochet thread, wine corks, aluminum rod, cotton twill
45” H x 30” W x approx. 4” D
2024/ongoing
vintage crochet thread, wine corks, aluminum rod, cotton twill
5” W x 8” H x 7” D
2015/2024
repurposed linen shirt, vintage linen buttons, vintage linen thread
21” H x 21” W
2017
vintage crochet thread, wine corks, nails, rust-dyed linen, thread
21” H x 21” W
2017
vintage crochet cotton, wine corks, nails, rust-dyed linen, thread
25 silver gelatin prints mounted to silver gelatin prints, stitched together
Approx. 22" H x 21" W 1999
machine-stitched silver gelatin print 18" H x 18" W 1992
machine-stitched silver gelatin print 18" H x 18" W 1992
machine-stitched silver gelatin print 18" H x 18" W 1995
machine-stitched silver gelatin print 18" H x 18" W 1992
11" x 14", silver gelatin print
5 1/4" x 6 1/4", silver gelatin print, 2003
11" x 14", silver gelatin print, solarized negative
5 1/4" x 6 1/4", silver gelatin print, 2003
approx. 4" x 5", silver gelatin, solarized pinhole
5 1/4" x 6 1/4", silver gelatin print, 2003
approx. 7"x7", silver gelatin print, 1987
silver gelatin print, 2003
4" x 3 1/2", silver gelatin print, Liquid Light on glass plate negative, pinhole, 1988
4" x 3 1/2", silver gelatin print, Liquid Light on glass plate negative, pinhole, 1988
approx. 5"x5", silver gelatin print, Dianatype
approx. 5"x5". silver gelatin print, Dianatype, 1991
6 1/2" x 6 3/4", copper-toned silver gelatin print, Dianatype
approx. 7"x7", silver gelatin print, Dianatype, 1987
5 1/2" x 5 1/2", silver gelatin print, Dianatype
3 1/2" x 3 1/2", silver gelatin print, Dianatype, 1995
5 1/2" x 5 1/2", silver gelatin print, Dianatype, 1991
approx. 4"x5", silver gelatin print, pinhole, 2002
approx. 7 1/2" x 7 1/2", silver gelatin print
5 1/4" x 5 1/4", silver gelatin print, Dianatype, 2003
approx. 8" x 8", sepia-toned silver gelatin print, Dianatype
cyanotype on Hahnemuehle Platinum Rag
Image size: approx. 7 1/2” H x 9 1/2” W
Paper size: 8” x 10”
2018
cyanotype on blotter paper
Image size: 7 1/8” W x 9 3/4” H
Paper size: same
2018
cyanotype on Hahnemuehle Platinum Rag paper
Image size: approx. 8” W x 9 3/4” H
Paper size: 8”W x 10” H
2018
cyanotype on Hahnemuehle Platinum Rag
Image size: approx. 8” W x 9 3/4” H
Paper size: 8” x 10”
2018
wet cyanotype on Hahnemuehle Platinum Rag paper
Image size: approx. 8” W x 9 3/4” H
Paper size: 8”W x 10” H
2018
cyanotype on Hahnemuehle Platinum Rag paper
Image size: 8”W x 10” H
Paper size: same
2018
cyanotype on acid free paper
Image size: approx. 3 3/4” W x 5”3/8 H
Paper size: same
2018
cyanotype on Hahnemuehle Platinum Rag paper
Image size: approx. 8” W x 9 3/4” H
Paper size: 8”W x 10” H
2018
cyanotype on Hahnemuehle Platinum Rag paper
Image size: approx. 8” W x 9 3/4” H
Paper size: 8”W x 10” H
2018
cyanotype on Hahnemuehle Platinum Rag paper
Image size: approx. 8” W x 9 3/4” H
Paper size: 8”W x 10” H
2018
cyanotype on Hahnemuehle Platinum Rag paper
Image size: approx. 8” W x 9 3/4” H
Paper size: 8”W x 10” H
2018
cyanotype on Hahnemuehle Platinum Rag paper
Image size: approx. 8” W x 9 3/4” H
Paper size: 8”W x 10” H
2018
cyanotype on Hahnemuehle Platinum Rag paper
Image size: approx. 8” W x 9 3/4” H
Paper size: 8”W x 10” H
2018
cyanotype on Hahnemuehle Platinum Rag paper
Image size: 8”W x 10” H
Paper size: same
2018
cyanotype on Hahnemuehle Platinum Rag paper
Image size: approx. 8” W x 9 3/4” H
Paper size: 8”W x 10” H
2018
cyanotype on Hahnemuehle Platinum Rag paper
Image size: approx. 8” W x 9 3/4” H
Paper size: 8”W x 10” H
2018
cyanotype on Hahnemuehle Platinum Rag paper
Image size: approx. 8” W x 9 3/4” H
Paper size: 8”W x 10” H
2018
Stricken – struck by something,
disabled or incapacitated by something,
removed or rubbed out.
Strikken -- German: to knit.
I made Stricken: A Book in 2013 during a week-long residency at Big Cat Textiles in Newburgh, Scotland. It was a week of fits and starts, of pursuing the scent of an idea and then another, fiddling with this bit and that bit, wandering down a path, and literally wandering the hillsides of Newburgh. The unifying discovery was a small hank of horsehair that electrified my senses and my imagination, although my friend India assures me that the heady aroma emanating from the hank is most assuredly horse pee.
The foundation for Stricken: A Book is a 1932 “University Loose Leaf Note Book, Generally adopted by schools and colleges” and available for purchase “in all Woolworth Stores.” Its few pages are brittle and fragile, discolored by moisture, dirt and age. It was someone’s book of quotations, delicate handwriting espousing sage truths: “True eloquence consists of saying all that is proper and nothing more. – Rocheforcault,” “The silent countenance often speaks. – Ovid,” and “Speech is a mirror of the soul – as a man speaks, so is he. -- Publius Syrus.”
I had gathered some snips and swatches of fabrics, some old photographs, bits of old paper and some string. In the pale mornings I read about the history and evacuation of St. Kilda. I fiddled with the horse hair, I wound it and stitched it. Windswept afternoons, I followed a narrow path and sat with some sheep. I arranged the photographs, rearranged them, tucked them in one place and then another. Before falling asleep at night, I read about the hardship and lean times in St. Kilda. What gradually emerged were the book pages: a person’s face highlighted, bristles of horse hair, knotted string, pierced paper.
“He who has put forth his total strength in fit actions has the richest return of wisdom.” This residency was my total strength put forth in fit action and my return, if not wisdom, was at the very least, love.
A Work in Progress
Overview
I began working on the Pigeons in 2003. They are small quilted pieces of varying sizes, ranging from as small as 1½ inches by 3 inches to about 20 inches by 20 inches. My intention is that they be installed together in a random arrangement or several arrangements. All of them or a selection of them could be installed. The current number (as of July, 2015) is 165 and I am in the process of making more.
When I began, I thought of them as little scrapbook or photo album pages made out of fabric. Rather than turning the pages of a book, each page is presented concurrently with the others. This presentation, along with the changeability of arrangement, allows for more complex and varied visual relationships that investigate formal structure and patterning. The additive quality of the exploded scrapbook provides a context or a history that, although mostly fictional, adds weight and meaning to the individual quilts.
Materials and Conventions
Photographs, either vintage photographs or prints from vintage negatives, are stitched into the fabric. The fabric comes from a variety of sources: vintage baby blankets, baby and doll clothes, nightgowns, and yardage. The fabric is primarily cotton or wool flannel. I often tea dye it and include bits of ribbon, lace, eyelet, embroidered sections of garments, and other stitched elements.
The color palette, like the texture, is intentionally soft. Where the photographs are too contrasty for my purposes, I cover them with bits of glassine or other sheer material. If the flannel is too strongly colored, I use the reverse side and let the shadow of the pattern show through.
I observe several rules or conventions in the fashioning of the quilts. These have to do with what stitches I allow myself to use or not use and when and where I can use stitches. The conventions also determine the organic quality of the shapes of the quilts and how that happens. They are primarily squares or rectangles, sometimes ovals, but never straight geometric shapes, never completely flat or perfectly pieced. I want to note here that I take some inspiration from the work of the women of Gee’s Bend. I employ these conventions as a source of definition for and engagement with the work.
The Name
I chose the name Pigeons intuitively. There are many of them, they are softly colored, their voices are gentle, and they are common. And yet, if genuinely observed, they radiate and shimmer.
Polaroid 600, approx. 3 1/2" x 3 1/2".
Polaroid 600, approx. 3 1/2" x 3 1/2".
Polaroid 600, approx. 3 1/2" x 3 1/2".
Polaroid 600, approx. 3 1/2" x 3 1/2".
Polaroid 600, approx. 3 1/2" x 3 1/2".
Polaroid 600, approx. 3 1/2" x 3 1/2".
Polaroid 600, approx. 3 1/2" x 3 1/2".
Polaroid 600, approx. 3 1/2" x 3 1/2".
Polaroid 600, approx. 3 1/2" x 3 1/2".
Polaroid 600, approx. 3 1/2" x 3 1/2".
Polaroid 600, approx. 3 1/2" x 3 1/2".
Polaroid 600, approx. 3 1/2" x 3 1/2".
Polaroid 600, approx. 3 1/2" x 3 1/2". Collection of Shawn Michelle Smith.
Polaroid 600, approx. 3 1/2" x 3 1/2".
Polaroid 600, approx. 3 1/2" x 3 1/2".
Polaroid 600, approx. 3 1/2" x 3 1/2".
Polaroid 600, approx. 3 1/2" x 3 1/2".
Polaroid 600, approx. 3 1/2" x 3 1/2".
Polaroid 600, approx. 3 1/2" x 3 1/2".
Polaroid 600, approx. 3 1/2" x 3 1/2".
Polaroid 600, approx. 3 1/2" x 3 1/2".
Polaroid 600, approx. 3 1/2" x 3 1/2".
Polaroid 600, approx. 3 1/2" x 3 1/2".
Polaroid 600, approx. 3 1/2" x 3 1/2".
Polaroid 600, approx. 3 1/2" x 3 1/2".
Polaroid 600, approx. 3 1/2" x 3 1/2".
Polaroid 600, approx. 3 1/2" x 3 1/2".
Polaroid 600, approx. 3 1/2" x 3 1/2".
Polaroid 600, approx. 3 1/2" x 3 1/2".
