This little lady has her dress on to go to Oxford in the morning for a
"One Night Stand at the Ole Miss Motel"-don't judge. I wanted to make a piece to talk about Sargent's Madame X. and Amelie Gaureau's life. The map on the seat shows her ancestral home of False River, Louisiana
, the map then moves to her birth place of Toulouse Street in New Orleans and then the walk from John Singer Sargent's studio to The Academie De
Beaux Arts to hang the famous Madame X portrait and then a map showing the route from Amelie's home to Sargent's studio where she begged him to take down the infamous painting.
Spotted this "Bloomsburyesque" chair in the home of embroidery designer Erica Wilson and modernist furniture designer Vladimir Kagan on The Selby
. My stitching skills are not even close but I will keep this image to aspire to.
I have just stumbled upon the Japanese embroidery technique of Sashiko in my new best book Martha Stewart's Encyclopedia of Fabric Craft
s. This simple running stitch really appeals to my modernist outlook.
Its exam week-so there will be no soulful design thoughts coming out of Starkville until next week. I will indulge in the work coming out of Milan then and show this interesting work by Studio Makkink & Bey
from the provocative Droog Show "Saved by Droog". Clips of newspaper articles printed and embroidered on to hankys...pretty clever.
No Milan for me this year and I hesitate to comment on things I have not seen in person...unless I am trying to make a point BUT the images coming out of Milan are intriguing especially these bizarre takes on objects and taxidermy by French design house Frederique Morrel
. Made from "de-cycled" french tapestry the work is other worldly and a great shock...I see where some retail ideas are coming from.
Heads down for the last two weeks of school, but I am planning a mid-May NYC trip.
I really would like to see this show, Women Only:Folk Art by Female Hands. First
The American Folk Art Museum is a favorite building in NYC and most shows that I see there I pop with ideas when I walk out...and I do not consider myself a folk art lover, it just that the curation is so smart.
Peter Nencini's blog post about the embroidered stool held some amazing artifacts that are very inspiring. As I stitch through the battles of the late Civil War. There is something very definitive about stitching the truth. This is a sampler stitched by Elizabeth Parker in Ashburnham, England during the early 19th century. Full of trials of her time as a young house servant, she poured her soul into the sampler. Also see The Day Joyce Sheet-more fortitude of women, stitched into cloth.
Graphic designer Peter Nencini
completed this project with his wife Sally. Excepts from Bachelard's Poetics of Space make up the image. C&B reader Sara Krohn turned me on to Nencini's blog-a great example of a "working" blog. He walks you through all of his current projects with research and techniques.
I have been thinking about the potential of my embroidery work and its ability to tell all the stories for this General Grant project. I have been casting about looking at the work of MIT researcher Leah Buechley who devised a DIY micro controller for interactive fabric work. This piece was done by Graduate student
Becky Stern; who seems to be one to watch. 
I am getting ready to start the spring project of Mapping and more work with Mr. Grant. I came across this artist this morning when I was reading the Times. Alighiero Boetti, Italian Arte Povera artist devised maps that discussed the geopolitical climate and had them made by artisans in Afghanistan,Kabel and Pakistan...he started in 1971 and worked on them for another 20 years.....I need to see these. 
Caleb sent me this great image the other day. no credit sorry, I did some research and came up short. I feel like its a piece that I would make....."goofball tech". But it does sort of explain an idea that I am working on; that technology and handcraft are not opposites but 'the means to an end". Craft is the midwife to technology?
It was announce over the holidays that Sebastian Brajkovic's Lathe Chair was acquired by the Victoria and Albert Collection. This is exciting news because his work really is the most innovative of 2009. I particularly like the embroidery work that pops up in certain pieces. I really want to know how he gets this work done?.jpg)
I am working on mock up of stitching/drawings/maps for another series of furniture. I was really taken with Faulkner's Rowan Oak and reading about his tireless energy to revive the house and grounds...It is an overwhelming sense of loyalty to place that I think is very prevalent to the south....I am going to be working on a series of maps that illustrate this connection....oh sounds so formal/academic-we'll see.
I have been researching the life and work of Candace Wheeler. She is probably the first (we must check our dates) professional interior designer. She was a renowned expert on textiles and embroidery when Louis Tiffany started Associated Artists and enrolled her in the enterprise. She was responsible for the textiles and embroidered work for the Armory Library and the Mark Twain House. Her wallpaper work is still available through the Burrows Studio.
My friend Catherine sent me this great link of the company Lost City Products. Since I am an embroidery novice the site itself dazzles me. It also has these amazing films of Edison and early moving pictures-not to mention the blog that takes you to Turkey.....
, the map then moves to her birth place of Toulouse Street in New Orleans and then the walk from John Singer Sargent's studio to The Academie De
.jpg)
