Business Card

 

Drafts and drawings of future designs to accompany finished pieces in the show

  

    These are some drafts of tracing paper and two fully realized drawing that could go up in the show. They are based on my previous work- using life drawings of models and manipulating and over-lapping these drawings to create something new. I struggled with whether I wanted to make these drawings have color or not but I decided in the end that it would be more in line with my process to use the colors of the prospective threads I would use to create these pieces with embroidery- though I do not think that the ground for them would all be white, but I wanted to keep something consistent across the drawings. 

Show Card Drafts

 

Arrangements on the Wall in Word Clouds and Other Orientations

 

    Here are some arrangements of all the finished pieces I have so far which I intend to but in the final show arranged in various orientations- including the style of a “word cloud” which was suggested in class. I also included a more traditional arrangement where each piece is spaced apart so that it more so stands on its own. The final two pictures depict my favorite set up, where the different pieces are arranged thematically. 

    There are also some pieces that I did over the summer when I was first thinking about my thesis. I thought of them when John talked about looking at my work from last semester and realized that these pieces worked well with the later revisions of my thesis so I have included them with my other pieces and given a separate closeup of them. 

Work So Far- Up On The Wall- Salon Style

 

    Per John’s suggestion to me I finally pinned up my pieces on the wall- in the only free space in my apartment with a white wall and good lighting. Though I could not essentially space the pieces out as one would do in a gallery setting I was able to put them up in a way more reminiscent of the classic Salon style of curation rather than anything else. Though this was not ideal I still gleaned a lot from being able to see the pieces up in a neutral space and not, for once, crushed together in my lap as I worked on them or flung over a cushion while I sat parallel trying to figure out what to do next. I believe John has a good point in saying that I need to find a way to make the work function better together. I thought that the shared medium would do that but the strictly typographic work does not exactly go with the line drawing work. I think that I could make a piece that would bring the two together, if I have enough time. If not I believe that I could find a way to display these that would make them balance and harmonize with each other. Every piece other than the “walking medicine” banner are in a finished state, although I am contemplating adding text to the ovular red and white piece. In hindsight I wish that I could add borders/bindings to all of the pieces going in the show so that they are consistent but I know that I do not have enough time to do so, so I will aim for a 50/50 split of those that are bordered vs. those that are not. For now this is what I have so far. I plan on hanging these up in a larger space so that I can adequately arrange them in the way I would have them and want them to be seen in the seminar show. 

Progress

 

Progress on text work

 

Trying to narrow down parameters as things begin to draw closer to the end. I believe that I will focus on my text work and my still life “sketches” in thread. I am beginning to work on finishing up what I have been working on but I am worried about not having enough for a substantial show. I have so much that I have wanted to showcase with my thesis but I have come to realize that I have just scratched the surface of what I believe will be a years long investigation for me. I want to begin creating labels and finding ways to frame my work- I believe that will take some research and looking into how fiber art shows have been displayed in past shows. 

Second Landscape “sketch” Piece— In Progress

 

    This piece is meant to expand on the idea of the previous piece (the steeple appliqué) by being larger (4X4) and more complex in terms of detail and the different layers that have to be worked with. 

    The original drawing for this piece comes from a drawing I did in the winter of 2017 in the first volume of journals that I began to keep on a daily basis since my first semester in college. I am now on volume 27. The drawing was done in my town of origin, Newark, Delaware in the neighborhood behind my childhood home. I thought that it was a good contrast to the Steeple piece in that it seems more ominous and reflects my feeling towards the place where I grew up. 

    I had to modify the drawing, redraw it essentially, as the original sketch was so small. The colors in that new sketch, shown below are not accurate to the fiber colors that I would like to use, but serve to distinguish the different layers of the drawing so that I could effectively transfer the sketch to tracing paper. I show a photo of the back of the piece for a starting reference as to the colors I have chosen to use so far.  

Result of further experimentation with steeple “sketch” and appliqué

     Maariv Aravim is a prayer said in the evening service between the call to prayer (Bar’chu) and the central prayer of the service (the Sh’ma). The prayer speaks about the coming of evening saying “rolling light before darkness and darkness before light... blessed are you, Adonai, who brings on the evenings.” 

    I could not count the number of times I have left classes to see the setting sun glinting beyond the familiar spire of the First Baptist Church in Beverly- where I had my convocation four years ago. That time of the oncoming evening now more than ever is something I am aware of as we just begin to roll into spring and the days grow longer and longer. This is something I wanted to capture with my process of embroidery and appliqué on a ground of blue wool, With additional layers in cashmere and wool, and embroidered in rayon and silk thread.

A Note: I do not find the use of the spire of a Baptist Church in combination with an excerpt from Jewish liturgy awkward because the image is more of a love note to Beverly where both this church and my synagogue are located. It is more of an expression of personal experience and memory rather than one motivated by religious devotion.   

Appliqué Text Test and small Observation drawing prototype

 

Latest small piece- work in progress with sketch (Deer skull draw from observation- white cotton floss on Alpaca wool blend ground)

 

 

Other larger projects (works in progress) and sketches for smaller projects