Summer Sultriness

It's been almost too hot to think here in Philadelphia, let alone do any embroidery (note to self- save giant projects for winter when you want half the fabric to cover you up while you're stitching). So I've picked through some of the Fiberarts International images that exemplify this summer sultriness we're experiencing. "Field" by Barbara Wisnoski is a hazy, shimmery-horizoned landscape, like looking through the heat wrinkling the air. It's made up of thousands of tiny fabric scraps machine sewed together and raw edges fraying, which adds to the slightly-out-of-focus feel. We wondered at her process, are all those pieces planned out and arranged before stitching? Does she work intuitively at the machine?"(Near) Death by a Thousand (Self Inflicted) Cuts" by Meredith Grimsley is a masterwork of french knots in a martyr-like selfportrait. I don't want to conjecture the reason for the thousand self-inflicted cuts, so I'm just going to say that today I'm reminded of mosquito bites. Here's a video I found of more of Grimsley's work:

Finally Joetta Maue's "(Touch)...In With You" is the sultriest of all. Her hanging threads drip like sweat as we sleep naked in un-air-conditioned beds.

HOT HOT HOT!!!