Surfacing

New work, in progress forever. I love that I never know what the final patina will look like until it's dried and sealed. It's impossible to predict. I have a few tricks up my sleeve for creating more dramatic effects, but they are only as good as the original patina - sometimes it's best to hold back and simply allow the patina to stand alone, or primarily alone.

        Surfacing (2012)

Handwoven copper in satin weave with patina and embroidery. 

I've been embroidering this piece since before Christmas and forever wondering if it was finished. It was partly inspired by this photo of lichens, found here.

As always, I've been struggling with how to best present my work, and because I work with textiles and metal my pieces are often wonky, thready, stiff and impossible to frame 'as is'.  I feel as though the onus is on me to make sure anything I sell can be easily hung and presented. Often that has meant framing my work myself or mounting it on wooden cradles. However, framing quickly becomes expensive and wooden cradles can be heavy. For this piece, I made a recessed base by cutting an equal size shape (to the piece) out of foam board and gluing that onto thick cardboard. Once it was dry, I nestled the piece into the hollow and added the mat with high-tack double-sided tape. It worked perfectly.  It will now pop into most standard sized frames. 

Lately it has occurred to me that I began this blog as a sock-knitter and I now have a three year old who has yet to receive a single, solitary pair of adorable, creative, funky, original socks from moi.

I'm going to have to do something about that.