Velvet, why yes!

As the leaves begin to turn colors here in Northeast Ohio, I find myself wanting to add color to my work.

Here's a peak a what I'm working on now. 

I plan to fill the back of this shirt with stitches and perhaps the front. 

I found this cotton shirt at the thrift store a few months ago. And I found a few bits of silk velvet from a project long abandoned and thought velvet, how delicious!

Anna Torma

Anna Torma 

Born in Tarnaors, Hungary 

Now lives in Baie Verte, New Brunswick.  

 FLORA, 2008
Hand embroidery on silk, appliqué and reverse appliqué with silk threads, 80 x 80 cm

Playground III 2008 

Hand Embroidery , 84 x 84 cm

Draw Me a Rose II 2006 

Hand Embroidery on linen, silk threads , 150 x 135 cm

Anna uses bits and pieces of found cloth, silk, old scraps of fabric, and personal ephemera including the childhood drawings of her two sons to stitch a 'story' together. 

Anna Torma writes "I feel I am a storyteller, using my private diary pages with drawings, text and paintings form both my early experiences in Hungary and my recent life in Canada."

I long to see these works in person and I imagine you would too. 

I hasten to say that I feel a strong sense of awe and wonder at her intriguing style and numerous works please visit her website here.   

Face to Face with Identity

Amy Sherald
Born, Columbus, GA
Received her MFA from Maryland Institute College of Art, 2004
Currently living in Baltimore, MD, USA

Well Prepared and Maladjusted

2008

43" x 54"

Oil on Canvas

Puppetmaster

2008

51" x 72"

Oil on Canvas

both painting images via Amy Sherald

This image gives you a sense of scale

 image via bmoreart

I don't usually post about painters, and I thought why not?

Amy Sheralds work resonates with me. I like her explorations with identity. I also like that she received a prestigious private study residency with the Norwegian painter, Odd Nerdrum, whose work I saw in 1995 at the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts. They are stunningly realistic and highly dramatic.

I keep looking at these paintings and find myself returning once again.

Her work has a social context and exposes a clever subtext. She is a modern master and one to watch. 

See more here.

Lena Wolff: Lovely Painted Papers, Pin Pricks and Cuts

Lena Klein Wolff
Berkeley, CA, USA

Quail, Peacock & Owl

Meeting Place

Violet Tower

Willow 

All images via Lena Wolff

Lena Klein Wolff’s hand-painted paper cut and pinprick collages make me swoon. 

At first glance, I thought they were appliqued fabric.

A bit a whimsy and charm. I covet these and you can too! She sells reproduction postcard sets of these and more on her familys Etsy store here.

More of Lena's work can be found here.

Enjoy!

Paper Space

Yuko Takada Keller
Born in Japan
Current lives in Helsinge, Denmark

Spring Sea / 2005

150cm x 330cm x 330cm 

(approximately 60 x 130 x 130 inches)
Installation, tracing paper

Life of the Blue, 2000

Public Collection / Portalen in Greve, Denmark. material: polypropylene

Yuko Takada Keller is a Japanese paper artist who has been living in Denmark since 1997.

Life of the Blue is comprised of 50,000 small triangles cut from tracing paper.

It was made after her mother died in 1999 as a meditation about life. She says “There are many important things (life) around us, but we can't find them, because we haven't tried to see carefully."

Prismatic, 1989

200 x 200 x 200 cm

(approximately 78 x 78 x 78 inches)

Fabrication, tracing paper

Yuko writes, "Prismatic... is one of my favorite works. It is composed of 7,500 pyramids."

This work represents the shower of light she feels from nature.

Her work can fill a room, but doesn't overwhelm the space. 

She has eight galleries of artworks on her website. 

I encourage you to make a pot of tea and browse for a while here.