Postcard/philosophy piece

I had an extremely busy and productive weekend whilst visiting my parents. I completed this piece, which I am so excited about, and was kindly assisted by my mother, who cut out all the pictures.
The premise is a 2000 word original philosophical text, presented in a visual way to be shown alongside my other exhibition pieces. I wrote about the nature of distance and separation, and it's effect upon relationships, as this is very relevant to my life and work. Originally I wanted to write the text onto postcards from Finland. However, the tourist postcards I found in Turku at Christmas cost €3 each, and as I used 30 postcards for this that would have amounted to €90 in total, plus I didn't particularly like any of the available options. Instead, I used blank postcards and printed some of my own images that I took during my time in Finland. Another advantage of this approach is that the imagery is much more personal to me, and will allow the viewer a better understanding of my personal experience. There is a huge variety of different images in this piece, including a photo of my old house in Turku, images of public artworks that were part of the Capital of Culture programme, and pictures of places that I particularly loved.
Finally, I stitched the cards together to form a very long concertina. The cards can be flipped over to read the text or look at the picture. The finished work, when completely laid out, was the same length as my parent's living room! I'm still considering how to present this work in an exhibition space, but I'm keen on the idea of laying it out as it is in the above picture, probably on a table.
I really love this piece, and feel it successfully shows more of my experience in Finland. This week I'll be working on an embroidered map I started last week of the subjects in the portraits, and the connections we have amongst ourselves.

So many ideas!

This week I've had so many ideas that I'm keen to try, my brain has been working overtime. One particular idea that I've become very passionate about very quickly is top secret, and I've only discussed it openly with two people so far. I'm not going to reveal it here, because that would kind of defeat the object of the whole thing. I know this is all very mysterious, but when this plan comes to fruition all will become clear. It's a really exciting and fun idea, which I'm sure will get a lot of support from other artists, and I feel certain that this will happen and produce some brilliant results.
Apart from that, I have been discussing staging an exhibition in London during the summer with a photographer friend. It's early days and we've only had the vaguest of conversations about this, but I'm optimistic about this too.
Another idea that I'm really enthusiastic about has come from my observation that people pay a lot of attention when I'm embroidering, because it's unexpected, even within a Fine Art community. When I paint nobody takes any notice - it's nothing special in a studio environment. However, sewing produces a very different reaction. A few days ago a lady I'd never even spoken to before came and sat with me for about 10 minutes whilst I was working, to look at what I was doing and chat to me, and she's not the only person to do so. There's also the fact that my appearance, being somewhat unconventional, often attracts attention in public. I'm quite used to people asking about my tattoos, commenting on my hair, and often just telling me how nice they think I look, which is always lovely.
From these two things, I came up with the idea of securing a residency, even if it was short term or just in a cafe, not necessarily a gallery, where I could just get on with my work, and people could watch, as if I were an exhibit. It would kind of be a performance piece, although without much theatre involved. This could be filmed, or alternatively, I could just produce a film, with a collaborator who knows more about that than I do. In the case of making a film without a residency or exhibition, I've considered how theatrical this could be made, possibly with costumes or some kind of movement, but always with the constant theme of me sewing, to play with the idea of myself as a spectacle.
Besides that, I've thought about what I want to do once this body of work about Finland is over, and I want to make work exploring myself and my experiences. I have so much going on in my mind, so many ideas, memories, and ambitions, that I think sorting it all out through art could be fascinating. It'll be a while before I look into that more seriously, but it's something to think about.
I'm sorry if this seems very manic, but there are so many ideas and so many thoughts going on for me right now. It's a good feeling.

The memory blanket

It's finally finished! It still needs to be put it the hot press, but the embroidery has been completed! I'm very proud of the result, and I think the amount of hard work and effort in this piece is evident. Once it has been pressed and tidied up I'm sure it'll look even better.
As I have mentioned previously, this piece lists various memories from my time in Finland, colour coded to correspond to the mixed media portraits of my friends. I feel that this has become a self-portrait, as we are products of our own experience.
Finishing this work has left me with a feeling of pride and relief, but also sadness because it has consumed me for the past couple of months. Throughout this time, I have become more and more enthusiastic about maintaining embroidery as an integral part of my practice, and has lead to me being referred to as a "punk embroiderer". My intention was to have imperfect stitching with a clear human element, and as it was put to me, there would have been no punk without prog rock, as punk was a deconstruction. I have deconstructed hand sewing, and the importance of careful, uniform work. Hence, the punk embroiderer.
I will be exhibiting this piece at my show in April, and after that will probably be selling it. I don't think this will be the only completely stitched work I will produce.
Now that this piece is done I will be looking back over a couple of my mixed media portraits that I was not totally happy with, and possibly giving them a bit more work now that I can see them with fresh eyes. From next week I'll start on a new piece, which I have a few ideas for.

Pinterest

For those who are interested, you can now follow me on Pinterest over here! I really wanted somewhere to keep all the images I find that give me ideas, interest me, or inspire me, whether they are directly related to art or not, and this seemed an ideal platform for that. There's not much on it yet, but give me some time.
I haven't had much to say recently as I have been working very hard on the embroidered piece. However, I am sure it will get finished this week as I'm very close to the end of it. It's a relief to get it done successfully, and I'll post images once it's completed.

Embroidered memories

I've been working on the piece I mentioned, embroidering memories onto a blanket. I'm hand sewing everything, because using a mechanical machine method feels completely out of place with something about very personal moments. I'm also really loving the fact that hand sewing allows for imperfections in the lettering, allowing for a really personal feel, and the wonderful texture I'm creating. The downside is that it is extremely time-consuming and labourious.
I'm really happy with how it's looking, even though I've got a long way to go before it's finished. I think the completed piece will look really impressive, and the amount of hard work that's gone into it will be evident. I'm working on it for a few hours every day, and looking forward to the end result.

Starting something new

I've decided to begin something new within my work, but I've been so busy doing it that I've only just remembered to write about it!
I've now completed 6 portraits, which I'm happy with, and it would be a good idea to have something slightly different to go alongside it. Working on something new is convenient now, because I had a subject for another portrait, but I wasn't sure who to use after that. I wanted each portrait to be of someone significant, who played a big part in my life in Finland, rather than choosing people I'd only met once or twice just because I needed a subject. I can think of a couple of people I might like to work on if I decide to make some more of these portraits, but after that I might end up scraping the barrel.
Recently I'd also started thinking more about memories I have of my time in Turku, and memories of the people in my work. This, and the use of my friends as subjects, relates to the idea of my internal world, and my domestic life.
I had an idea of filling a bag or envelope with pieces of paper on which my memories are written. Someone can take out a memory and read it. This worked well in my sketchbook, but I'm uncomfortable with doing this in a gallery setting, as there is a risk of theft. I don't want my work, or my memories, to be stolen.
I hit on the idea of embroidering a surface with the memories I have of the people in the portraits, colour coding the sentences to correspond to each image. Embroidery is traditionally a feminine, domestic act, but this is not highly important in my work. What's more important is that the embroidery will be consistent with the portraits. The surface I'll be using is a blanket I got on a night train in Norway, when I was on holiday. The blanket is too thin to be of real use to me now, plus it provides symbolism. It is an object that I acquired during my time away from England, even if it didn't actually come from Finland.
I feel that the blanket piece could still be considered as a portrait - a portrait of me. I think that your experiences and memories shape you, and make you who you are, and all of these memories and events have formed me and my life today. In a way, this piece puts me alongside my friends.
I'm planning to start sewing the blanket during Christmas, and this week I've been working on some preparatory pieces. This work may take a while, so I'll see where I am after that. In the future I'm quite interested in doing something focussing on the continuous line drawings I've been doing.

Paintings for sale!

I've finally got round to updating my Etsy shop, meaning that work is for sale again!
The pieces I'm currently working on are not yet available, but some other work, most of which is from the past year, are now available for purchase. Everything is reasonably priced, and I ship internationally. Please do have a look.