Art In Stitches: Lots of new "In Box" series pieces!

(Above: In Box CCCLXXV, a composite image showing the work and then me holding the piece inside its frame. Framed: 19 3/4" x 15 3/4". $235. Click on any image to enlarge.)

For months and months, I worked on all sorts of other artwork. The ongoing pandemic has provides so much time to explore new ideas. So I did. It seemed silly to make more In Box and Stained Glass Series pieces. After all, shows were being cancelled. The Grovewood Gallery in Asheville where I'm represented was closed and obviously not selling anything. There was no need to make more. There was no reason to invest in more frames or more polyester stretch velvet ... and then things changed.

(Above: Ernie, making himself comfortable in my studio, on my stash of polyester stretch velvet.)

The Grovewood opened. Artwork started selling. I got into the Philadelphia Museum of Art's upcoming virtual craft show and needed lots of new work, especially pieces that could be photographed in their frames but before being fitted with glass ... with me holding them as a way to show presentation and scale. Happily, I went back to my studio and have been on a roll. Thankfully, my stash of polyester stretch velvet is quite diverse. Even Ernie seemed to love all the colors.

(Above: Piles of polyester stretch velvet hand cut into various sizes of squares and rectangle, ready to be used in the construction of my In Box Series.)

When making "a bunch" of these pieces, I approach the marathon of creativity by cutting up lots and lots of squares and rectangles of polyester stretch velvet. That way, I can see all the possible colors and easily grab whatever I need. Every piece of this tacky material already has a heat-activated adhesive (Wonder Under, Pellon #805) ironed to its reverse. I laid out all the foundation pieces on all twelve works before going back and adding more and more layers. Then, one after another, I free motion machine stitched them. Finally, but one at a time, they were put on a stretcher bar, taken to the garage, and subjected to my melting techniques: melting holes through the layers with soldering irons and melting the space between the shapes away with an industrial heat gun.

(Above: In Box CCCLXXXV, a large sized piece framed at 33 1/2" x 21 1/2". $550.)

Once all the melting was done, each one is carefully trimmed, stitched to acid-free mat board, and framed. Yet, I photographed each one before putting glass into the frame. I delayed the exposure for ten seconds in order to hold each piece for its finished photo shot. These composite images are the ones I'm using to create a platform for (hopefully) selling my work during the Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show (Nov. 6 - 8).

(Above: In Box CCCLXXXVI, another large piece.)

Here on this blog, however, I really like the straight-forward pictures. Why? Well, they can easily be enlarged for people reading to see the details, especially the individual motifs stitched into every box.

(Above: In Box CCCLXXXIV, a medium sized piece. Framed: 22" x 18". $325.)

In addition to the large pieces, I stitched three medium-sized ones.

(Above: In Box CCCLXXXIII, another medium sized piece.)

(Above: In Box CCCLXXXII, another medium sized piece.)

(Above: Ernie, helping with the mounting of each piece.)

Ernie followed me around for days while I worked. He sat on my Babylock Tiara while I stitched and he was up on my mat cutter while I mounted them. He is so grown up now! Below are the small sized In Box series pieces. Please scroll through and enjoy!