Baltimore Sonnets

Poetics: A RaceB4Race Symposium What a joy to give a talk at the Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies . I gave a presentation on my artistic practice and three recent projects which includes Love Sonnets from Shakespeare to Baltimore.  When the videos of the talks are available on YouTube, I will post a link on my blog.

Issue 21: Maryland It's a pleasure to announce that a few of my textile books and a view of my private space are featured in the upcoming Maryland issue of Quiltfolk.  I will be joining many amazing and talented artists living and working in Maryland.  To receive a 20% discount on your copy of the magazine, use code SuzanneQF21.  

I want to ring in the new year with images of one of my favorite books I created in 2021.   Cover: hand beaded silk fabric Pages: repurposed wedding gowns and fabrics.  I hand painted and printed on the wedding gowns. I silkscreened Shakespeare's sonnet on the end sheets. I used various quilting and fabric manipulation techniques on the pages.

 In Process: Final layer of embroidered design of book cover #12 From my Love Sonnets from Shakespeare to Baltimore  fine art book series.  

 Finely crafted books and prints using traditional and experimental techniques New books coming soon.  I've been working hard on a few new books.  I look forward to showing them to you soon.  Have a wonderful weekend!   *Coronavirus Disease 2019: Update in Maryland- 1/29/2021 359,629 confirmed cases  7,076 deaths   9,486 recovered Update in New York State - 1/29/2021 1,382,856 confirmed cases  43,093 deaths    124,976 recovered Total in United States: 25,793,302 confirmed cases, 433,719 deaths Total Worldwide: 101,687,508 confirmed cases, 2,195,871 deaths * All numbers are taken from Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center

 from Shakespeare to Baltimore I've been working on some new work for my book arts series.  Lots of experiments with traditional quilting techniques.  I love printing on fabric.  The textures are so rich and beautiful.  It is hard to capture all of the nuances with my camera.  Stay safe. *Coronavirus Disease 2019: Update in Maryland- 12/20/2020 250,808 confirmed cases  5,448 deaths   9,114 recovered Update in New York State - 12/20/2020 848,042 confirmed cases  36,431 deaths    94,579 recovered Total in United States: 17,840,000 confirmed cases, 317,667 deaths Total Worldwide: 76,789,781 confirmed cases, 1,693,578 deaths * All numbers are taken from Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center

from Shakespeare to Baltimore  The journey continues:  I am back working on my long-term project Love Sonnets from Shakespeare to Baltimore.  I recently visited my local thrift store and found these beauties.   I have never seen the store filled with so many wedding gowns.  As always, I wonder what their  stories are . . .  *Coronavirus Disease 2019: Update in Maryland- 10/21/2020 137,236 confirmed cases  4,085 deaths   7,960 recovered Update in New York State - 10/21/2020 488,056 confirmed cases  33,371 deaths    78,645 recovered Total in United States: 8,327,531 confirmed cases, 221,930 deaths Total Worldwide: 41,088,902 confirmed cases, 1,128,701 deaths * All numbers are taken from Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center

My Art in the Time of a Pandemic My newest book I thought I could finish this cover by Wednesday, but I still have a lot of embroidery to do.  This is a peek at the cover.   *Coronavirus Disease 2019: Update in Maryland- 7/21/2020 79,545 confirmed cases  3,402 deaths   5,380 recovered Update in New York State - 7/21/2020 408,181 confirmed cases  32,520 deaths    72,302 recovered Total in United States: 3,897,465 confirmed cases, 141,972 deaths Total Worldwide: 14,894,973 confirmed cases, 615,462 deaths * All numbers are taken from Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center

My Art in the Time of a Pandemic Sonnet VII Page from my newest book Gracious Light, completed 6/1/2020 Today I finished another book for my series Love Sonnets, From Shakespeare to Baltimore.  My primary inspiration for this project is literary:  I am fascinated with Shakespearean sonnets, the fourteen-line masterpieces structured like logical arguments about the emotions influenced by love and hate. The secondary inspiration for this project is fashion history:  I am interested in historical textiles and their social, economic, and cultural significances. *Coronavirus Disease 2019: Update in Maryland- 6/1/2020 5,327 confirmed cases  2,552 deaths   3,782 recovered Update in New York State - 6/1/2020 371,711 confirmed cases  29,917 deaths    66,110 recovered Total in United States: 1,811,370 confirmed cases, 105,165 deaths Total Worldwide: 6,265,496 confirmed cases, 375,526 deaths * All numbers are taken...

My Art in the Time of a Pandemic Deconstructing wedding dresses When I am transforming wedding gowns into books, I am always curious about their histories.  Today, I worked on a wedding dress from 1940 and one from 1960.   This is a picture of the wedding gowns on my work table.  Even though I altered their outward appearances, their fabric weave structures and textures remain the same. *Coronavirus Disease 2019: Update in Maryland- 4/18/2020 12,326 confirmed cases  421 deaths         Update in New York State - 4/18/2020 242,424 confirmed cases  17,627 deaths, including 13,157 in NYC (*13,202 was reported in NYC yesterday) * All numbers are taken from Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center

My handmade textile book Look in Thy Glass has found a permanent home at the National Museum of Women in the Arts .  This is the 4th book in my series Love Sonnets, From Shakespeare to Baltimore. Look in Thy Glass will be part of the upcoming exhibition DMV Color from November 4, 2019 through March 4, 2020.  So honored to be included in the dialogue about literature, art and women's history.

Using wedding dresses to make the pages of my books has made me re-examine all of my family heirlooms and those of my friends -- those cherished handmade items made long ago by our grandmothers and other family members that sit in boxes, waiting for the perfect living room, the perfect house, the perfect place to put them, the perfect project . . .   Each year I say I am going to do something with them.  Another year goes by.  This beautiful needle point design was hand stitched more than 70 years ago by my close friend's grandmother. It was a pillow that wanted to be a book cover.  So I gently took out the seams, made a few repairs and bound it to my second book of the series -  Sonnet One.

1870 - 1940 This summer we visited several museums in the NYC and Baltimore area to view wedding gowns.  We were fascinated by the intricate tailoring and construction of vintage wedding gowns, especially those created before 1940.  (Yes, the wedding gown below is decorated with lace and feathers!) One of best textile collections we visited was at Towson University Historic Clothing Collection. They allowed us to examine the textiles and wedding gowns not only with our eyes, but with our hands.  It was truly an amazing experience to touch and feel handmade silk and lace dresses from 1870 - 1940. 

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...