Baltimore Sonnets

Researching printmaking and painting techniques in Germany. This is the beginning of a new chapter in my artistic process and I am excited about my upcoming projects. I truly appreciated the technical details of the aquatints and woodcuts by scientist Hans-Peter Elsasser.   It was great to be able to touch and study the actual printmaking plates. And, then be able to analyze the printmaking plates next to the actual prints on paper.    

2024 was a productive year.  I created several different book series of embroidered and embellished books during my 1.5 years as a Folger Institute Fellow.   These three flower books are in response to Shakespeare's Sonnet 54.  During my artist talk at the Folger on 16 November 2024, I mentioned the power of flowers.   "The act of giving flowers is a timeless gesture of deep appreciation, love, or praise. Beyond their symbolic value, flowers serve as visually striking design elements, drawing the eye and creating inviting focal points. Even after a fresh bouquet fades, the memory of the gesture endures, lending a poignant resonance to these artistic choices." /Suzanne Coley, 'Coded Threads,' November 2024  

This month I celebrated my 23rd year creating original imagery and art for theaters by taking my mom and husband to a local production of Eric Overmyer's play On The Verge or The Geography of Yearning . On The Verge was the first play that I created illustrations and art for the production's posters and the theater's exhibition gallery.  It was great to see this play more than two decades later. A bit of trivia: On The Verge premiered in Baltimore in 1985 at Baltimore Center Stage Theater. Working on this play and Aristophanes Clouds in Italy, are two of my all time favorites. Photo: Fells Point Corner Theatre Production, Baltimore, MD 2024

 Coded Threads: Translating Shakespeare Through Art The following is a page from Flowers For Mistress Overdone , the first of two books that I presented at the Folger Shakespeare Library on Nov 16. The pages for the books are created with textiles from 5 continents (Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe and North America).  The textiles were collaged and sewn into various designs. The fabric on the left is a collage of American and Tanzanian fabrics that I combined with one of my linocuts.  The fabric on the right was an original mid century modern English quilt top I purchased at London's Antique Quilt Company during my summer in the UK researching Shakespeare's texts.  The owner, Christopher, sources the highest quality textiles and it was truly a joy to transform this quilt into pages of my books inspired by Shakespeare's Measure For Measure. It was wonderful to present a few of my original artworks and embroidered books during my talk at the Folger Shakespeare Library....

Flowers for Mistress Overdone  This is one of the books I presented at my talk at the Folger Shakespeare Library this month.   I wanted to explore Mistress Overdone's character through art.  With just 15 lines delivered by Mistress Overdone in a rather long play, Measure For Measure, it was a very welcome challenge to offer a compelling artistic translation of Shakespeare's vision. 

What a wonderful time we had on Saturday, November 16, 2024 from 11:30am - 4pm at the Folger Shakespeare Library's historic Reading Room . Leah Thompson , Public Humanities Manager introduced my project. It was a pleasure to discuss the two-year long community project working on images for Shakespeare's Measure For Measure. I gave a 45 minute talk highlighting conceptual and technical aspects that are essential to successfully translating  Shakespeare through art.  My focus was the minor character Mistress Overdone in Shakespeare's play Measure For Measure. From 3pm - 4pm, the group and I gave live demonstrations of our particular needlework practice. All of the artists brought three projects they are currently working on. What a joy to share our experiences creating textile designs inspired by Shakespeare's text.