The Poetry of Stitches

Embroidery in Mixed Media Art

Embrace the process. Find beauty in the mess. Slow down with stitches. Create expressive abstracts. Linework. Mark Making. Color.

When I was a little girl, I would often fall asleep to the sound of the sewing machine humming away in the next room. It was the white noise of my childhood. My mom was, and still is, such a driving creative force in my life. She was an artist and a true Do--It-Yourself-Queen. All aspects of my creativity, I can trace back to her. (For those of you who don't already know, I lost my mom this summer to pancreatic cancer.) I feel as though her spirit lives on through every brushstroke and/or stitch that I take. I am so excited to teach this course, The Poetry of Stitches: Embroidery in Mixed Media Art.

When I first learned about mixed media art, I fell head over heels in love with the process. I remember early on in my art exploration, asking my mom to help me find a sewing machine so I could stitch in my work. Back then, free hand stitching with sewing machines was the hit thing in mixed media circles. This began my love affair with using stitches in my work. Using stitches and embroidery in my work has changed many times over the years. I now enjoy using hand stitching into my work, which is what we are going to be focused on in this class. Using stitches in my work still remains one of my favorite ways to add texture in my work. In this course, we will be exploring using stitches primarily as a way to add line work and mark making to our pieces.

I have been creating a collection of work in the last month that I thought would make an awesome online class. In this course, we will be creating stitched abstract expressive art pieces on sheets of canvas paper. I wanted to work on raw loose canvas for this collection, I think partly because it expresses the raw nature of my grief right now. I am always looking for ways to innovate my process of creating, and I love how stitching is getting a new beginning in my work. With the stitching taking on the role of line making, I wanted the rest of the painting to feel messy and loose. The theme that I will explore in this collection is finding beauty in the mess.

In this course we will focus on:

• Using embroidery (hand stitching) as a means to create lines and marks in mixed media pieces
• Creating loose expressive abstract paintings
• Expressive mark making
• Creating a collection of work
• Innovation in your creative process

What is included in this course?

4-5 Pieces Start to Finish Process Videos

Over 6 HOURS of Content and Instruction

Zooming and Stitching Call

BONUS Modules!

4 Embroidery Floral Design Patterns (FREE for download)

Basic Guide to Embroidery Stitches

Mixed Media Art Lab- Introduction of basic mixed media techniques

Materials and Supplies:

• Loose canvas in either a canvas pad or a roll
• Embroidery floss
• Crewel needles (In other words, embroidery needles which have a bigger eye to be able to thread with embroidery floss)
• Acrylic paint
• Pencils for mark making- I like using water soluble
• Chalk pastels
• Matte gel medium
• Collage elements
• Cradled art boards
• Copper nails
• Oil pastels *optional
• Oil paint *optional