Baltimore Sonnets

There is a moment in life when you realize that all of your experiences, the good, the bad, the wanted, the unwanted, the obstacles, the joys are all reflected in your art. Photo of Suzanne Coley at Corning Museum of Glass, NY.  Summer 2022 And, art has become life.  

I've been quietly working on a textile image a day since January 1, 2022.  Today is the 68th day.   All artwork is inspired by a poem.

Making a book for textile historians has been very exciting. When I begin a project I usually review the history of the textiles and their conditions.  I ask a few questions such as: Will these fabric stand the test of time?  Do I have to cut around designs?  Do I have enough "archival" textile to make a whole page or do I have to collage the remnants with other materials?    For this book, all of the fabrics are in perfect condition, which allows me to design interesting prints.  I should be finished in a week and look forward to posting.   *Coronavirus Disease 2019: Update in Maryland- 8/26/2020 105,486 confirmed cases  3,717 deaths   6,061 recovered Update in New York State - 8/26/2020 431340 confirmed cases  32,921 deaths    74,791 recovered Total in United States: 5,820,113 confirmed cases, 179,657 deaths Total Worldwide: 24,032,128 confirmed cases, 822,480 deaths * All numbers are taken from Johns Hopkins Coronavirus...

My Art in the Time of a Pandemic Day by day, minute by minute, I work. I feel like the book lover in "Time Enough at Last" an episode of the Twilight Zone.  Desiring time to work until every muscle in my body aches.  Not feeling any discomfort, only excitement to do what I love -- create.   ***** Coronavirus Disease 2019: Update in Maryland- 4/11/2020 7,694 confirmed cases  206 deaths         Update in New York State - 4/11/2020 181,825 confirmed cases  8,650 deaths, including 6,367 in NYC

My NYC art residency allowed me to experiment with traditional and modern techniques. It was great to combine various hand stitched designs with coded and machine stitched ones.   Working with young coders using Turtlestitch was wonderful!  Seeing computer simulations on the screen before we stitched the designs was great.  It allowed us to evaluate, discuss, and modify our designs before printing.   In the end, we experimented with many different designs and fabrics for our final project: A Handmade Textile Book

Beading   Beading is a nice way to add texture and a little glitter to fabric.  Here is a view of the backside of one of the beaded designs in my handmade textile book Goats.

Research at The Textile Museum, DC One aspect of creating original textile art is leaving the studio and visiting libraries and museums.   The Textile Museum in Washington, DC is wonderful. Their library is considered one of the most important resources for the study of textiles in North America.  They have thousands of out of print and hard-to-find books on textiles from every continent. Researching antique textile techniques, especially embroidery methods from around the world, has given me a broader perspective of the historical and social components of textile art: How do we define textile art?   How do we categorize it?  How do we create it?  How do we combine various techniques?  Do these definitions and categories need to be updated and revised? There were so many wonderful antique textile books.  However, I really appreciated this one because it was  "Dedicated to Her Majesty the Queen of Spain."

Time to write the Poetry This week I decided to write all the poetry for the next 6 books.   Once written, I will create silkscreens and print the poems on the textiles.  

After a few weeks of experimenting with new ideas, patterns have begun to form.   One I am especially happy with is hand embroidering textiles. It still takes me way too much time to hand embroider the fabrics, but I think it is worth the effort.

Painted Songs, handmade book 301 Materials 1. Linocuts 2. Postage stamps 3. Silkscreens 4. Vintage maps 5. Acrylic 6. Pencil 7. Vellum 8. Gold Metal Leaf 9. Music sheets Binding & Cover 1. Book boards .087 2. Archival adhesives 3. Acrylic mediums 4. Linen thread Techniques 1. Illustrations 2. Mixed Media 3. Linocuts 4. Silkscreens Text Lette...

End papers, Book 291 Materials 1. Linocuts 2. Music sheets 3. Postage stamps 4. Mathematics pages 5. Acrylic 6. Pencil 7. Vellum Binding & Cover 1.  Book boards .087 2. Archival adhesives 3. Acrylic mediums 4. Linen thread Techniques 1. Illustrations 2. Mixed Media 3. Linocuts Text Transforming Reality

Handmade Book 285 Materials 1. Linocuts 2. Silkscreens 3. Decorative papers 4. Vintage maps 5. Acrylic 6. Pencil 7. Vellum Binding & Cover 1.  Book boards .087 2. Archival adhesives 3. Acrylic mediums 4. Linen thread Techniques 1. Illustrations 2. Mixed Media 3. Linocuts Text Running with Flames

Experiments with paints, textures, and nature . . . Experimental page  Book 256 Materials 1. Handmade papers (made in Baltimore)  2. Antique music sheets 3. Linocuts 4. Acrylic paints 5. Gouache 6. Pencil 7. Silkscreen Binding & Cover 1.  Book boards .087 2. Archival adhesives 3. Acrylic mediums 4. Linen thread Techniques 1. Illustrations 2. Mixed Media 3. Linocuts ...

Magenta, Book 252 End pages, Book 252 Materials 1. Handmade paper 2. Maps 3. Linocuts 4. Acrylic paints 5. Gouache 6. Pencil 7. Music sheets Binding & Cover 1.  Book boards .087 2. Archival adhesives 3. Acrylic mediums 4. Linen thread Techniques 1. Illustrations 2. Mixed Media 3. Linocuts 4. Silkscreens ...