Graffiti Embroidery?

You bet! Welcome to the world of renown fabric artist Tilleke Schwarz. In her own words, this is what Tilleke says about her work:

My work is a mixture of graphic quality, content and fooling around. The humor in my work is typical for my Jewish background: a mixture of a laugh and a tear. Folk art and daily life are great sources for inspiration. I use mixed media with a focus on hand embroidery on linen and on drawings and paintings.

My work can be understood as a kind of visual poetry. It is a mixture of contemporary influences, graffiti, icons, texts and traditional images from samplers. And of course cats are usually included. The embroidery contains narrative elements. Not really complete stories, with a beginning, a storyline, and an end. On the contrary, the narrative structures are used as a form of communication with the viewer.

I am thrilled to be attending a lecture by Tilleke on September 30th, here in Vancouver courtesy of the Maiwa Symposium on Granville Island. I think I'll add a copy of her latest book, New Potatoes, to my art library when I'm there. I can hardly wait to hear about her process and see her work in person. Oh, the new things I'll learn!

Click the words: Maiwa Symposium, if you're interested in learning more about this monumental, annual fiber-art event.

Comments

Anonymous Art Show

Happy New Year! I am once again embarrassed that so much time has elapsed since we last chatted. It was quite a year, that 2015. I cannot say that I'm sad to see it go. However, one bright spot in the year was that my daughter, Ruby, & I participated in the Anonymous Art Show - the North Vancouver Community Arts Council's annual fund raiser. I have attached a few snaps of our submissions. My painting can be seen on the group photo of Those-Who-Make-It-Happen (top row, second painting on the left). We had fun getting our paints out and spending some quality art-time together. Ruby was thrilled to use acrylics, as opposed to mom-friendly washable paints. If you have a hankering to gift art at Christmas, make sure you check out their site in early November to get the dates of the 2016 show. Not only will your family & friends be thrilled to receive an original canvas, but the local art community will thank you too (each canvas is $100 with $50 going to the art...

When the Body Says NO

The title of this blog is the title of a book I'm currently reading. No, I'm not experiencing any particular health issues. I picked up this familiar-sounding book after my yoga teacher mentioned it to me. Turns out when it was published in 2004 the author, Gabor Maté, was interviewed by The Georgia Straight. And, as it turns out, I was fascinated by some of his insights and kept the article - which I have since found. This book is about "the link between emotions and disease". Repressed emotions build up a lifetime of stress. Not surprisingly, to me at least, there is a vast link between the two but many medical professionals and disease-affected people don't acknowledge it. One of the most basic stressors is our lack of personal boundaries -- our inability to say NO. Another interesting cause of disease is stress from childhood events: "Physiological stress, then, is the link between personality traits and disease. Certain traits--otherwise known as coping ...

It's summer... it's the MAIWA Symposium

Each spring or early summer, Maiwa sends out their catalogue of classes for their fall symposium . It's an exciting time for we art-types. This fall I'll participate in Bonnie Adie's The Art of Embroidery 3-day workshop. I am a novice embroiderer but I'm good with my hands, so I'm crossing my fingers that I can keep up. Last fall I was to listen to tilleke schwarz speak about her work but my plans changed due to a sick child. However, I purchased one of her books so with my soon-to-acquire stitching skills, I hope to incorporate stitching into my art world. If you get the chance to take a class through Maiwa, jump on it. It's so worth doing so. Kind regards, Kathryn

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