Baltimore Sonnets

When I enter my studio, I usually listen to music and warm-up with sewing exercises. These sewing warm-ups are inspired by my dreams or poems I am struggling with for the series. With this series of transforming wedding dresses into books, I am exploring the idea of love, romance, and passion.  During my warm-ups, I use vibrant colors and extreme manipulations.  For the actual series, I have limited my palette to three colors: white, black, and red.

Part I: From Fairest Creatures We Desire Increase The wedding dress is considered the most important dress in a woman's life.  Steeped in tradition, religion and history, its delicate white lace and silk symbolize a woman's rite of passage. This dress is about love, finding your perfect soul mate, and living happily ever after.  Many women spend thousands of dollars for their wedding dress, and if it is custom made, the price can reach hundreds of thousands. The fabric, construction, design, and style can tell you so much about the culture, social class, and historic context of the time. For years, I've wanted to create books using worn wedding gowns.  However, it was impossible to find a bride willing to sell, much less give me, her beloved wedding gown when I told her my plan.  One of my friends even told me, "I'd rather it rot in my cedar chest." So imagine my delight when I found a batch of used wedding gowns at a thrift store t...

Anselm Kiefer ROCKS! Last week I visited Anselm Kiefer's public art exhibit, Uraeus, at Rockefeller Center.   Awesome!  Brilliant!  A wonderful symbolism of the BOOK: elevated to the point of being exalted, with powerful wings (to fly and spread its words, knowledge, history, secrets . . .) Yet fragile and perilous. On view until July 22, 2018.

Hey all, This is Jennifer Lin from TurtleStitch! Check out my new blog post about what I learned about color and code from Suzanne:   steamct.blogspot.com Yesterday, I had the opportunity to meet Suzanne Coley.  She talked to me about how she loves TurtleStitch because of the ability to physically hold onto the coded artwork and how coding is a form of art. She taught me color theory and how the color thread and fabric we choose can have an effect on how the viewer sees the embroidery design. This is what I embroidered yesterday!   I love the colors of the fabric, which help bring out the design of the code: the blue on the fabric corresponds with the blue of the thread the size of the red paint on the fabric is similar to the yellow thread in the center of the code  this makes the design pop and is more appealing to the eye Thanks Suzanne!