Fresh off the needle

 I'm happy. I've been stitching a lot, that's why. On Sunday I visited a former professor of mine, Wendy Osterweil, who is holding some stitch workshops in preparation for an exhibit she'll be having at the Painted Bride this winter. She had a wealth of dyed silk organza and various screen-printed papers that she made available to us and inspired us with images of tree bark to create "skins". I couldn't wait to get my fingers on this piece of chestnut silk organza...

 I started with random undulating pleats in the silk to produce a curling, sculptural effect. Then I cut and sewed on a few pieces of printed paper in leaf-like sections. I only sewed them down on one side to let them flap a bit, except for one circular printed teabag that made a "knot" as you can see in the top image. Finally I used some ecru pearl cotton to stitch concentric lines in running stitch which look a bit like woodgrain. I think this piece is finished, and it looks very nice when pinned up to the wall. I forgot how fabulous silk organza can be.

 Also this week, I completed the panorama cityscape stitched line drawing. Now it just needs to be blocked and bound. I have a few pieces lying around needing the finishing touches. In fact two more small embroideries and a giant collaborative piece are waiting for some binding.

I'm looking forward to doing some more pieces for Wendy- maybe bigger next time. In the meantime, I better finish up some final details so the studio (haha- try the kitchen table) doesn't feel cluttered.

PS. It's Philadelphia Open studio Tour time- this weekend is East of Broad studios, but I don't know if I can go to anymore studios without feeling totally jealous. My artistic self is feeling cramped and stifled working from home...