Artist statement, Public collections, and Exhibitions of embroidered textile work.
Artist Statement
Hand embroidery is a form of drawing for me, offering options that other mediums do not. The slow progress of an image, stitch by stitch, adds to the narrative depicted in the work.
Stitching an encroaching fire, roiling water, or a flooded landscape makes me feel the drama more. It can add to the beauty of a simple flower, its colors modulated with shaded threads.
I use cotton or linen threads which can be thick, thin, even, textured, matte or sheened; some lie flat on fabric and some arch, some slightly fray to make chalky marks. Some use colors that easily group and meld, while others are used best alone.
All these can be sewn into the variety of cotton or linen fabrics I use: from densely to loosely woven and ranging from paper-like stiff to a flimsy flow.
While “how long did it take you to do this” is the question I hear most often, my works’ intricacy, detail, and overall effect is what gets appreciated.
The process of hand embroidery is engrossing and exciting. Its possibilities draw me into my studio every day.
News
Public Collections for Artists’ Books
Ohio University, The General Rare Book Collections, Athens, OH, A Blustery Windy Day on Quiet Island, 2022, an accordion book.
Bainbridge Island Museum of Art, Bainbridge Island, WA, Whatever Happened to Louisa?, 2019, an accordion book.
University of Tennessee, Hodges Library Spec
University of Miami, University of Miami Library Special Collections, Artists’ Books Collection, Coral Gables, FL, Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep, 2019, an accordion book featuring the poem by Mary Elizabeth Frye.
Virginia Commonwealth University, Special Collections and Archives at James Branch Cabell Library, Richmond, VA, In Memoriam, 2015, an accordion book featuring the poem “Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep” by Mary Elizabeth Frye.
For purchasing artist’s books, contact The Kelmscott Bookshop.
Private Collections
The Walker Library of the History of Human Imagination, Ridgefield, CN, How a Bandage Works, 2017, an accordion book following the progress of a healing wound.
North Beach on Quiet Island, 2018, an accordion panorama of a beach scene (for daydreaming or contemplation).
Exhibitions
2024
“String Theory,” Cultural Center of Cape Cod, South Yarmouth, MA, February 6 – March 2, 2024.
2023
“Autumn’s Palette,” juried by Catherine Clark (Catherine Clark Gallery, San Francisco), O’Hanlon Center for the Arts, Mill Valley, CA, online October 17 – December 15, 2023.
“Nor’easter,” New England Museum of American Art, New Britain, CN, September 21 – October 8, 2023.
2022
“PULP: Book & Paper Arts,” Sebastopol Center for the Arts, Sebastopol, CA, July 23 – September 3, 2022.
“Boundless,” Bainbridge Island Museum Art, Bainbridge Island, WA, March 4 – June, 2022.
CODEX VII Book Fair, biannual international book fair, Craneway Pavilion, Richmond, CA, April 10-13, 2022.
2021
“Elemental: Earth, Fire, Water, Air,” Curve Gallery, Maryland Federation of Art, Annapolis, MD, October – November 2021.
“Book Arts Invitational, 2nd Edition,” Jean B. King Gallery, Herrett Center for the Arts and Science, University of Southern Idaho, October 2021 – January 2022.
“Where We Live,” Focus on Book Arts 2021 biennial conference, Tia Blassingame, keynote speaker, Forest Grove, OR. Online exhibition, July 15 – Aug 2021.
“Stories From Nature,” Hudgens Center for Art and Learning, Duluth, GA, May – July 2021.
2020
“Panic,” juried by Chester Arnold, O’Hanlon Center for the Arts, Mill Valley, CA, November 2020. Online Exhibition, up indefinitely.
“The Illustrated Accordion,” Online Exhibition, KBAC Gallery, Kalamazoo Book Arts Center, Kalamazoo, MI, May 1 – June 30, 2020.
2019
“All Stitched Up,” Collins Memorial Library, University of Puget Sound, Tacoma, WA, September 3rd – December 11th, 2019.
“Borders,” Hallway Gallery, San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles, San Jose, CA, July 31 – Oct. 13, 2019. Selected work from the “Borders” exhibition, San Francisco School of Needlework and Design, San Francisco, CA, May 4 – June 5, 2019.
“Borders,” Hanging Threads Gallery, San Francisco School of Needlework and Design, San Francisco, CA, May 4 – June 5, 2019.
CODEX VII Book Fair, biannual international book fair, Craneway Pavilion, Richmond, CA, February 3-6, 2019.
2018
“Quiet Island Travelog,” Hanging Threads Gallery, San Francisco School of Needlework and Design, San Francisco, CA. One-person show, October, 2018.
“Small Works,” curated by Philip Linhares, former chief curator of the Oakland Art Museum, Richmond Art Center, Richmond, CA, June – August 2018.
“Narrative Threads,” traveling show for three galleries in Denver CO, beginning at Carbondale Arts, May 2018, with the third show ending in the fall of 2018.
2017
“MUSUBU: Book Art Tokyo – California,” Urawa Art Museum, Urawa, Japan, September 2017, and The American Bookbinder’s Museum, San Francisco, CA, April – May 2018.
CODEX VI Book Fair, biannual international book fair, Craneway Pavilion, Richmond, CA, February 2017.
2016
“Stitched in Time, a Needlework Exhibition” Filoli, Woodside, CA, invitational curated by Lucy Barter, co-founder of the San Francisco School of Needlework and Design, June – August 2016.
“In Remembrance: People, Times, & Places,” San Francisco Center for the Book, San Francisco, CA, October 2016 – January 2017.
2015
“FiberSHED,” Marin Community Foundation, Marin, CA, October 2015 – January 2016.
CODEX V Book Fair, biannual international book fair, Craneway Pavilion, Richmond, CA, February 2015.