The tapestries of American textile artist Erin M. Riley are remarkably frank, depicting dark and emotionally raw subjects ranging from nude selfies and private wounds to messy, unkept tabletops scattered with the kind of awkward detritus that would make most cringe with embarrassment. In doing so, her art becomes a powerful form of catharsis, laying…
Art and Healing: The Emotionally Raw Tapestries of Erin M. Riley
I’m sure most of us in the sewing community have experienced feeling like we have lost our “sewing mojo” – a dip in our motivation that can leave us feeling stuck and frustrated. Don’t worry! With a little self-reflection and by implementing a few of the strategies in this article we can reignite our motivation…
French 19th century artist Eugene Boudin captured vast, soaring skies filled with flickering patches of dappled cloud, which flit between soft shades of pale grey, light blue, and the hazy lilac grey of Grey Pearl. His mastery of cloud painting even prompted Barbizon painter Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot to coin Boudin as the “king of the skies.”…
I started writing (and sewing) about dopamine makes just over a year ago. Thank you for coming along this journey with me- it means the world to know there is a place that extends beyond the practical and into the….unabashed silliness of sewing with no purpose except to feel. (That is NOT to say I…
Contemporary textile designer Lisa King makes striking prints which are an eclectic blend of influences, from the lush plant life of her childhood in Thailand to her mother’s vibrant collection of textiles and antiquities, her background training as a dancer, and her current life in industrialised London. She says, “I draw a lot of parallels…
Scottish artist and designer Charles Rennie Mackintosh might be best remembered for his Art Nouveau architecture and furniture, but he was also a highly skilled painter who made distinctive, stylised paintings of flowers and landscapes filled with quiet, understated wonder. Cool, crisp shades of metallic green like Laurel Leaf were a recurring feature of his…
There are some joys we keep to ourselves, and some, once we break their secret code, we want everyone to know it too. To join us in the joy. In my twenties, it was salsa dancing and more than once I was the person at a dinner party counting steps and demonstrating the basics to…
The colossal, tactile artworks of contemporary Ghanaian artist El Anatsui have a ghostly, liminal quality that is impossible to pin down, hovering somewhere between sculpture, woven textile, and installation. Made from salvaged scraps of plastic, wood, and, most recently shiny metal, his suspended structures perform the challenging trick of turning discarded scraps into treasure; whether…
Bands of horizon where sky meets and merges with water were a recurring theme in the art of the Symbolist painter James Abbot McNeill Whistler, flooding his canvases with the atmospheric light of a faraway dream. As much as Whistler is known as the painter of the night with his sombre, subtle ‘Nocturnes’ series, he…
I have made shorts, towels/washcloths and the coziest robe out of this waffle texture fabric. Robe and shorts shown here.We’ve been pleased with every one of these garments so far but if trying this delicious waffle fabric with clothing is intimidating to you or not to your taste, I’m happy to suggest another fun and…
Personal and collective stories about place and the need for belonging are woven tightly into the textile art of South African contemporary artist Igshaan Adams. His richly layered visual language brings together everyday ephemera from his home town, including shells, nylon rope, strips of fabric, plied cords, and beads. But it is also conceptually bound…
Egyptian-French artist Ghada Amer has a widely varied practice spanning sculpture, printmaking, video and installation, but she is arguably best known for her alternative embroidered paintings. From a distance, they might look like expressionistic canvases, but peek closer and they are laced with hidden elements of erotica aimed not for the male gaze, but for…
I am impatient. It’s one of the few bad qualities I have that I don’t actually feel bad about. I’m a foot tapper, a lane changer and for my sins, the kind of sewist who would cut straight into the good fabric. And of course, if you’re the same, you’ll know the highs and lows…
Indulgent shades of crimson and plum like Red Lilac were a recurring feature in the work of French intimiste painter Edouard Vuillard, depicting the lavish interiors and elaborately dressed women that set the stage for his life in late 19th and early 20th century Paris. Predominantly a painter of quiet, intimate indoor scenes brimming with…
With a history spanning five centuries, the Navajo (or Diné) weavers of the Southwest United States are among the greatest and most influential innovators the US has ever produced. Their traditional weavings and garments throughout American history are undoubtedly fascinating artefacts with rich stories to tell about the lives and spiritual beliefs of Native Americans….
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