In October 2020, I was contacted by Diana Akiyama, the first Japanese-American woman elected a bishop in the Episcopal Church, to create her vestments. Diana has a deep reverence for the natural world which she wanted reflected in her vestments. She knew nothing about katazome except that it was a traditional Japanese technique and she …
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This month’s SDA Book Club features a behind-the-scenes look into My Bed: Enchanting Ways to Fall Asleep Around the World by Rebecca Bond, with art and BTS from Salley Mavor. My Bed: Enchanting Ways to Fall Asleep Around the World I’m happy to share how I approached illustrating my latest picture book My Bed, from …
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Whether she’s working in textile, collage, or photography, Sharon Kerry-Harlan makes art that buzzes with life and energy. The Wauwatosa-based artist is best known for her unconventional pieced quilts that set bold, graphic shapes and patterns against a background of subtle color and lively stitched line. Her quilts are dominated by funky, off-kilter geometric designs …
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This week’s Friday Fibers Roundup spotlights recent articles on embroidery, hand-stitched, and some amazing projects being done in the field. 1) “The Calming Effects of Sewing Can Help People Express and Heal Themselves” by Clare Hunter explores how absorbing your concentration in needlework relieves inner turmoil (via The Guardian). 2) Finnish artist Noora Schroderus hand-embroiders …
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The Costume Institute’s exhibition, Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination is currently on display at The Met Fifth Avenue until October 8th, 2018. The thematic exhibition features conversations between both historical and modern fashion, and masterworks of medieval art from The Met’s collection. Heavenly Bodies examines fashion’s ongoing engagement with the devotional practices and …
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More than half the present members of the Art Cloth Network (ACN) are also current members of Surface Design Association, and in September 2017, they will be accepting applications for new members. Catherine Kirsch (a member of SDA and ACN) writes on behalf of both organizations as an invitation to the SDA community to join ACN’s group. As a thirty-member …
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Drawing and stitching are mark-making methods that continually appeal to me because of their immediacy and ability to convey emotion. There is a strong associative element in fabric that intrigues me. I like to gather fabrics and ideas together and begin to experiment, usually working with linen but I have recently been excited to play …
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