Save the Date--by Mary Vaneecke

I am thrilled to announce that TheMourningProject.com, along with the March of Dimes Arizona Market and the Center for Compassion, will host its first-ever exhibition of 20,000 pairs of baby booties.  These 'little elegies' will help draw attention to the U.S. infant mortality rate.  We have the worst IM rate in the developed world and lose more than 20,000 American babies before their first birthday.  

The event will be in Tucson, Arizona on October 21, 2023.  

#20000BabyBooties      #UnitedAgainstInfantMortality     #BlanketChange

 

Pick Up Stix

 Whenever I walk in the woods I pick up sticks or interesting pieces of bark, or anything else that looks like it will have either an interesting texture or a wonderful pattern or shape. Many of these become textile pieces further down the line.  But some are just so lovely as they are that I have created a group of them called Pick Up Stix.  I take the original piece of wood, clean it well and then coat it with a graphite solution made from powdered graphite, denatured alcohol and shellac.  You paint it on (usually 2 coats) and then rub it with another stick or a coin to get the graphite to take on that beautiful gray sheen.  I have added gold paint into the cracks for contrast and definition.There is something so satisfying about the feel of these pieces.  

When I was in design school in the 60's!!!! we had  a project in our first year to make a "feel good". You were given a hunk of metal and then you had to cut, file and sand it until it felt good in your hand. Let me say that sticks are easier then metal.  

Strings of Desire

 The Craft Contemporary Museum on Museum Row (Mid Wilshire) in Los Angeles just closed its fascinating exhibit: Strings of Desire.  As an embroiderer myself I was fascinated by the work of these 13 artists.

The mixed media embroiderers followed the theme: outsider culture, to examine their status as non-Western, queer and/or artists who pursue fantasy in their work.

What struck me, (words from the Press Release) was "the slowness  and intimate nature of the act of embroidery can capture . . . [the} state of desire before it reaches fulfillment."  This is something I experience viscerally every time I stitch.

The Press Release also mentions that the work in the exhibit is "complicating and maintaining the legacy of embroidery."  This is exactly my purpose in the hand stitching I do along with the use of additional media.  I found this a powerful and important show and was glad I got to see it close up!