WHY HAVE I NEVER LEARNED TO EMBROIDER?!

Tim Moore is a British-born artist now living in Australia. These two pieces are from his solo show, Sew Natural, at the Helen Gory Gallery. What do I love about these? It’s a fine blend of the nude, gun-toting grandmother, the bunny hats/flip flops/saggy boobs of the ladies in the second piece, and of course, the skillful sewing that could put any Nana to shame.

A cheap plastic bag from a dollar store? Nope, it’s bridal organza & embroidery that’s been made to look exactly like a cheap plastic bag from a dollar store. Re-explaining this seemed silly so I’ve taken this quote directly from Lauren DiCioccio herself: “[This] is a response to the current movement to eliminate plastic bags from consumer use due to their negative environmental impact… [They are] delicate ghosts of the original bags, mass-produced plastic replaced with soft, tediously worked fabric.”  There you go. Couldn’t have said it better myself.

This is definitely NOT your grandmother’s embroidery… unless of course your grandmother has a thing for yetis and moon boots. If she does then Megan Whitmarsh is the artist for her! If you’re looking for something slightly different than this, don’t worry, Megan’s portfolio also includes a yeti carrying a pink boom-box through the forest, King Kong on a walk with Princess Leia, and King Kong rocking out with KISS. Awesome.

Magdalena Bors is a Belgian-born artist now living in Australia. Her work is photographic, but obviously the girl can handle a ball of yarn. She creates beautifully surreal landscapes within very ordinary environments, out of very ordinary materials (yarn, blankets, kitchen sponges, thumbtacks etc). I love finding work that looks like nothing I’ve ever seen before. So inspiring.

{I wonder how long this was on her living room floor? I hope she doesn’t have cats.}

Hand. Soap.

Hilarious. Beautiful. Kinda creepy. I wish I thought of it.

I want need this. I would never actually use them though. I wouldn’t want to ruin them. They’re like those little rose soaps my grandmother used to put out for guests… but in more of a severed hand kind of way. If you want need them too, you can find them on etsy.com by an artist who goes by the name of “Foliage“.

Here we are again, at the line between art and craft. This subject always hurts my head. What makes something art vs craft? Intent? Venue? Scale? Price? Marketing? Ouch, there’s that headache again. I met this artist, a.k.a etsy name “Poodlebreath“, at a craft show. When I saw her work I was so inspired & so jealous. As far as I’m concerned this beautiful ceramic wall hanging should be hanging on an art gallery wall for lots of money, instead of sitting on a craft table for NOT lots of money.

I’m either very consistent in my taste, or I’m becoming a broken record. Here is another lovely piece  “containing the signs of everydayness”. This is how Albanian born, now based in Milan, artist Anila Rubiku has described her work. It’s similar to the piece by Lisa Solomon that I posted a few weeks ago. I love them both and am wondering why I ignored my mother when she tried to teach me to sew. Damn it.

Domestic imagery pulls me in every time – simple & sweet at first glance, but below the surface there always seems to be a hint of something dirty going on… or is that just me? Anyway, add a bit of a traditionally domestic technique (ie embroidery), like Lisa Solomon has in both of these pieces, and I’m sold.

~watercolour, acrylic and embroidery thread on duralar

If Art met Craft, through online dating or something, ended up falling in love and getting married, this would be their baby. Knitted graffiti. Seriously, how awesome is this? A bus cozy. You’ve had a way to keep your tea warm for years and now, finally, your local abandoned eyesore can have the same privilege, thanks to Magda Sayeg and her crew at Knitta Please.

That’s it, first thing Monday morning I’m signing up for a ceramics class.

I don’t know if I’m more jealous of Wendy Walgate’s beautiful 3D pieces or the fact that she’s got her own studio in Toronto’s historic/artsy Distillery District where she can focus on her work full time. She’s probably in there right now making another turquoise baby head…

[You can also see more of her work at the Ferrin Gallery]