i have been very busy focusing on a new set of sewn drawings (sewn paintings? i never know just what to call them), for a show that i am part of with kat moran and james ulmer. kat does not have a website, but she is awesome, i promise. we hang the show tonight (in about seven hours, and of course i have about fifteen hours of work left to do on them), and the opening reception is the evening of saturday the 29th (of november).
kat and james are both excellent humans and artists, and i am very excited to have my work share a space with theirs. if you have seen my sewn drawings before, you know that they mostly feature people with animal heads, inspired by old photographs.
this time around, i made a few with actual human heads. let me tell you, it is very difficult to sew a tiny little eyebrow or nose. my process is sort of ridiculous and requires a tremendous amount of patience. i start by putting the actual pencil drawing together and then trace that onto very thin paper with ink (i learned the hard way that you can't leave it in pencil because the pencil gets all over the fabric!). i sew right through the paper (using a basic straight stitch on a regular sewing machine) and then remove each tiny piece of paper (please imagine if you will, removing one hundred or so teeny little bits of paper from each strand of sewn hair). the filled-in, colored parts are also just a basic straight stitch. i just go back-and-forth, back-and-forth to create the texture, which means barely having my foot on the pedal and mostly turning the flywheel by hand. basically my arms are ready to fall off and my eyes feel like they might be bleeding after this, but i love it so much. it is incredibly satisfying when they are finished.
i will post a flyer and more information about the show soon. here is a sneak peek of one of my pieces.
©2008 katie henry
and i will be sewing up a storm to have a shop update ready for next week.
7 comments:
Oh, that is so beautiful-I hope your show goes super well!
Katie- your work is amazing. I love your bags so much, and now your sewn paintings. Can't wait to see more!
hey i think that i'm going to this!
wow!! these are fantastic! i don't think i'll ever have the patience to sew a detail drawing like tt using a sewing machine...ever.
You are awesome..can't wait to see them all...
holy moly. aMAzing. absolutely stunningly amazing. Really! I had wondered about the colored in parts in some other sewn drawings of yours I had seen. It's fun to hear your actual process. And your bags... equally amazing! :) Have fun with your show.
Well I was super excited when I bought one of your pencil clutches...I had no idea how amazing your work truly is. Patience is a gift, and it's obvious you are gifted! Good luck with your show, and I look forward to seeing what is next in your shop:)
I cannot wait to see the new ones. Wow is there ever a lot of work to these.
I hope & pray i don't miss them Wed in your shop (we'll be when driving at some point Wed, for the holiday Thurs). Heading somewhere w/ no internet service, ugh!
Might you post some real early on Wed, pretty please! =)
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