Visual Art...

"Goof around in adjacent areas."
George Saunders

First Communion

Thanks to Arts@Large I learned about reflective photography in a one-hour Saturday class and used it almost immediately. I photographed the mylar reflection of my first communion photo... deconstruction! Then I printed the photo onto cotton and embellished it with sequins and pearls and thread... reconstruction! Thanks to my studio mates @mollyhassler and @firstgenstudio and Real Tinsel visitors @hjmbrammeier and @erinbuczynski for their invaluable guidance! It takes a village!

Photo to Fabric:  Riverkeeper

For Riverkeeper, I photographed the thawing Milwaukee River, transferred the image to silk then embellished it with cotton thread and more silk. I pressed it between glass and mounted it in front of a glass mirror. 2021

Amazing Ugandan Bark Cloth

I experimented with bark cloth last year through a Selvedge Magazine class with Lesli Robertson. Bark cloth can be stitched, painted, deconstructed, embossed, and more while retaining its durability. Amazing stuff. The Buganda people of Uganda have been creating bark cloth (Lubugo) from mutuba trees for hundreds of years. And it’s sustainable because the tree grows it bark back year after year. Go to Lesli's website to see more!  https://www.mekekadesigns.com/

Zine-Making At Milwaukee Artist Resource Network (MARN)

My friend, Becca Kacanda, and I had a blast making zines at MARN with teacher Nick Naudi from Pink Salt Collective. According to their website, MARN is dedicated to providing artists from all social and economic backgrounds with the resources needed to cultivate a local, sustainable, art practice with the capacity to engage national and international markets. All I know is it is an amazing place and offers great programming. Visit their new space which actually features a coffee and wine bar at 191 N. Broadway Milwaukee, WI 53202 or at https://marnarts.org/. Group photos by Cristina Ossers.

Real Tinsel Exhibition

Here's a slide show of Real Tinsel's summer 2021 exhibition titled Cabin Fever: Wild Ideas from a Regrettable Year. The show featured work of many of my studio mates as well as mine. Wood sculptures by Becca Kacanda and Thaddeus Kellstadt. Botanical sculpture by Chelsea Dorgan and Megan Duerlinger. Embroidered textile by me. Big thanks to Keith Nelson and Shane McAdams, owners of Real Tinsel, for creating space for us to work and play. 

Reconciliation

"Reconciliation" is another translucent piece with words and artwork transferred to organza and sandwiched together with hand embroidery. It features my son's childhood artwork, things he's said to me as an adult and poems I've written about him. 
She Made Me
This piece features watercolor paintings (see below for the original paintings) of childhood clothes my mom sewed for me transferred to organza. Sandwiched behind each organza painting are her handwritten and sometimes typed recipes transferred in white ink to rayon. Then I embroidered selected letters and words from the recipe to fuse the two sheets. Here you see the finished "squares" as well as the entire series stitched together and mounted in front of a mirror.

Hope Chest: Letters at 19
This translucent piece features tracings of photographs of my mom and me over  time, letters between my mom and dad when she was 19 and letters I wrote to them when I was 19. Thanks to my landlord and friend, Keith Nelson, for hanging the mirror behind the piece.

What She Made Me

My mom sewed incredible clothes for me when I was in high school. We collaborated on patterns and fabric but she did the heavy lifting. Since I'm trying to learn watercolor technique, I thought it might work to capture what she made me.  So when I have a few minutes, I fool around with paint. And buttons. And beads.

There were Signs

I took photos of pre-construction signs painted on pavement in my neighborhood, printed them on silk then stitched them on rayon. The pieces are suspended from bike spokes. Thanks to Jesse Kuester at Wheel & Sprocket for the spokes from a broken wheel!

Bluesy Blues

Green was my favorite color but these photos I took in Morocco and printed on cotton made me fall for blue. Embellished with thread, gauze and batting.

The Handkerchief Project

 “What advice did your mother give you?” I asked female friends and strangers over about six months. And then I embroidered that advice onto vintage handkerchiefs and strung those handkerchiefs on braided pantyhose and embellished this “clothesline” with my hair, a cut-up dollar bill and other detritus. I feel so privileged to be allowed a peek into the private world of mothers and daughters. And I loved all the laughter. And the wine.

My Studio Neighbors Inspire Me

Becca Kacanda is my new neighbor at the studios of Tinsel Gallery at 10th and Mitchell. Here's her website and she sells her work on etsy and at local galleries. https://www.rottogrotto.com/  And Mary Louise Schumacher featured her in her Art City email recently. https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#search/art+city/FMfcgxvzLhgKVjNWtkJcXKtQFCCKCPMN

One of My Design Walls

I like to surround myself with other people's work. The blue dress is by Michele Dangelo. Other things include: a bed spring, rusted metal I found on a beach, poems.

Vietnam Inspiration

I was drawn to taking close-up photos of Vietnamese walls and icons on my recent trip there. I print the photos on silk and paper and then quilt them with batting and backing.  Lately I've been embellishing them with a variety of mosses.

Other Things I've Worked On

The first piece is part of a Mending Wounds series and features deconstructed fabric held together with tiny mending stitches. Photos of my lips inspired the second piece. My used contact lenses inspired the third.