i heart portland

Portland has its share of nicknames.  There's City of Roses, PDX, Rip City, Stumptown, and P-Town, which is the most commonly used name by locals.  You may also hear Portland referred to as Bridgetown due to the cluster of bridges in the center of town.  There are a total of eight bridges within walking distance from downtown.

Most of the bridges are quite historical, dating before 1926.  The oldest is Hawthorne Bridge (1910), which is my favorite.  It also happens to be the oldest vertical-lift bridge in the United States that is still in use.  One of my first Habit of Art blog posts was on a simple embroidery piece I had done of the Hawthorne Bridge.

Hawthorne Bridge

Here are a few more photos I snapped over the years of Hawthorne Bridge and other Portland bridges.

Stalled on Hawthorne Bridge due to the lift.

Broadway Bridge

Burnside Bridge

St. Johns Bridge

My nine year-old daughter is currently learning about Portland bridges in her class.  For a class project, she chose to paint the Sellwood Bridge.  She worked hard on the painting, and I love how it turned out!

Free wallpaper designs for your desktop

[image source: shannamurray.typepad.com]

Each month, artist Shanna Murray teams up with another creative talent to design a new desktop calendar.  Shown above is the recently released May wallpaper design by Murray and photographer friend Rachel Saldaña.  I love how the dates look like they've been embroidered, and the display of the May saying is so sweet. 

To download your very own copy of the May calendar, just click here and choose the appropriate file size for your desktop.  Here's a look at Murray's other collaborative wallpaper designs in 2011. 

I'm a huge fan of Portland-based Pattern People, and on their website, they have an amazing collection of downloadable patterns. These are just a few of my favorites. 

The designs can be used as desktop wallpaper, wrapping paper, gift tags, or whatever your heart desires! Check out this fabulous succulent design:

[image source: www.patternpeople.com]

Claudia Brown of Pattern People writes,

"One of the things I love about living in the Pacific Northwest is all the succulent plants that grow so well here.  Front yards everywhere sprout plump, pulpy hens and chicks, jades, and ground sedums.  Mosses grow on rocks, steps, trees, and roofs.  Every shade of green dazzles the eye on just your average neighborhood walk. I guess these are the benefits of living under so much rain. When the sun comes out, it’s almost too much color! So I dedicate this succulent design to my lovely home city, Portland."

Beautiful description and beautiful design.  It makes me appreciate my hometown even more.

Embroidered chairs by Peter and Sally Nencini

I'm in full-fledged covet mode over these embroidered chairs by Peter and Sally Nencini.  The talented duo transforms old chairs into functional works of art.  Peter creates the designs, and Sally reupholsters and embroiders. 

I'm a big fan of Bauhaus art (Kandinsky and Stölzl), so it's no surprise that I'm so keen on these geometric and simplified designs.  Add fabric and midcentury furniture into the mix, and it becomes my kryptonite!

[image source: Peter Nencini]

. . . I am powerless.

For more creative awesomeness/torment, visit Peter's blog and Sally's website.

Make your own embroidered portraits of family and friends

For Christmas, I made embroidered portraits of my nephews and nieces.  The project is more time-consuming than the silhouette portraits, but still relatively easy if you are familiar with embroidery.  Each 5" x 5" portrait took about an hour and a half to complete, which includes framing the work. 

Here is a list of materials and equipment needed to make a 5" x 5" embroidered portrait:

computer with photo editing application
white printer or copy paper
black felt tip pen
10" square of linen fabric
10" x 10" IKEA Ribba frame
black embroidery floss (I used DMC perle cotton 12)
embroidery needle
embroidery hoop
fabric scissors
art tape
iron

Instructions.
1.  Take the mat out of the frame and trace the mat opening onto the white copy paper.  Then, choose a photograph on your computer to use as a template.  If necessary, resize the picture so that it fits within the 5" x 5" mat opening.

2.  Secure the white paper over your monitor with removable tape.  Carefully trace the outline of the portrait with a felt tip pen.

3.  Take your fabric and line drawing to a bright window.  Center the fabric over the portrait and trace the line drawing with a black pen. 

4.  Secure fabric in an embroidery hoop. Using a backstitch, embroider over the line drawing. (Periodically refer to the actual photograph when working on fine details.)

5.  Iron the finished portrait.  You'll want to trim the edges of the fabric so that it can be taped to the back side of the mat. 

6.  Arrange the portrait and mat so that they sit in the back of the frame, like a shadow box.  Secure the back of the frame and you're done!

Since the frame is deep, you can add small memorabilia or decorative details to personalize the portraits even more.  For my nephews and nieces, I painted small wooden letters (just the first letter of each name) that could be glued to the bottom ledge of each frame.  I included the letters with each framed portrait. 

My Week

finished a mixed media piece,  In the clouds

a work in progress :: embroidered portraits of my nephews and nieces

(tutorial to come next week)

checked out once again the lights on Peacock Lane

this little guy makes me happy

bought at a local scandinavian shop a couple of years ago

yesterday's event :: making gingerbread houses with the girls
(on sushi plates, naturally)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Wishing you all a joy-filled Christmas with family and friends!

You never promised me a rose garden

You never promised me a rose garden is my latest embroidery project.  It's still a work in progress.  I just finished the design this week and printed a test run a few days ago.  My plan is to make a limited edition of five, but a lot of this will depend on how detailed I go with the embroidery work.  I actual like how the design looks right now, so I may just embroider the title in the middle and some accent features.   

The new design is nearly twice as big as my previous embroidery works.  Since it's long in shape, I was thinking that the finished pieces would look nice as wall hangings. Once I complete the embroidery part, I'll back each work with muslin and create sleeves at the ends for dowels. 

. . . easier said than done, I realize.

Framed embroidery and drawing now available in my Etsy shop

PDX: Home Sweet Home

It feels great to have my first embroidery works finished and framed- a project that started several months ago.  The whole process was a new experience for me, so a lot time was spent problem-solving.   The most challenging part of the process was actually the framing.  I didn't really think through this part when working on the pieces.  I learned it would have been much easier if I had designed the fabric pieces to fit ready-made canvas frames versus designing custom frames to fit the works.  At least I found a great wood shop connection (just a few blocks away!), and the materials used for both of the outer frames was reclaimed wood.  The frame for PDX is reclaimed white oak, and the frame for Opus is reclaimed mahogany. 

Altogether I spent over 60 hours on the two embroidery works.  It seems like a lot of time for two small art pieces, but I'm quite pleased with how they turned out and look forward to starting the next one.  I'm thinking about going bigger this time, maybe a 10" x 15" piece.  (The two current works are around 9" x 9".) 

Another work that I had framed was this drawing called Sky + Forest.  I really like the minimal look of the frame; it doesn't take away from the art work.  I also like the fact that you can hang the art piece on a wall or have it sit on a shelf.

I attached wire to the new framed works, so they are all ready to hang.  The two pieces shown here are currently available in my Etsy shop.

I am in the I AM show

I'm thrilled to be one of the participating artists in the launch of the I AM show.  I AM, which is an online exhibition and a physical gallery in Austria, is the brainchild of artist Mareike Auer.  A couple of months ago, Mareike invited me to be part of the first exhibition, and I've been busy ever since working on some pieces for the show.  There are a total of seven works that I will be shipping off to Austria, including this embroidery piece, Opus, that I finally finished.

Here's a look at the other six works.

Daydream, arctic explorer, Eclipse

Inspired, Pods, Seasons

There are a total of 23 artists participating in the December show, including Ana Raimundo, Jessica Bell,  Cendrine Rovini, and fellow Portland artist, Lisa Golightly.  For a peek of some of the fabulous art in the I AM show, go here.  

Last days of summer break

a lovely evening at the free symphony concert in downtown Portland

making sachets with lavender from the garden (i made the one in front and my seven year-old designed and made the cool contemporary one in the back)

marveling at sunsets outside our window

savoring the last hot summer days before the great hibernation of the sun

getting ready for the start of a new school year

Inspired by sashiko

My favorite pair of jeans had been stashed away for nearly a year due to an indecent tear on the backside.  Several weeks ago, I finally felt inspired to mend the tear when I came across an image on sashiko stitching.  Sashiko is a Japanese technique of mending clothing using the running stitch.  It is usually identified by cream colored stitching on indigo colored fabrics.  Sri Threads has an amazing collection of sashiko pieces here.

I absolutely love all the geometric patterns!

You can tell sashiko has been on my mind lately, as seen in my most recent art piece, sunset.  I'm also thinking that I'll use sashiko stiching in the border of my latest quilt project. But, maybe a pillow is more realistic? I do love the example below. 

[image sources: This and That From Japan, Tiny Happy, and Fancy Tiger]

I am currently reading The Ultimate Sashiko Sourcebook as a how-to guide, and The Purl Bee, as usual, has a wonderful tutorial. 

My creative process this week

Here's my latest mixed media piece called summer at the lake.  This work evolved from a lot of editing and problem-solving.  Originally, there were more details around the lake, but I didn't like the direction I was going.   So, I decided to cut out only the elements of the art work that I liked and glue the pieces to a birch panel.  When using a rotary paper trimmer, I miscalculated one of the cuts and sliced through a part of the drawing I wanted to keep intact.  Funny enough, I actually liked the horizontal line effect and made a few more horizontal cuts (as seen in the top portion of the work).  

I debated on tinting the birch panel.  Ultimately, I decided to keep it natural, which complements the warm tones of the sky and the water highlights.  To enhance the wood a bit, I used Gamblin Gamvar varnish.  Gamvar is normally used to varnish oil and acrylic paintings, but I apply it on mixed media works as well.  The varnish seems to give colors a little more pop. 

Although I do love drawing at my desk, most of my creative time this week has been spent on this embroidery piece:

I'm almost done with the embroidery part.  I'm wondering if I should add a city monogram to the design like I did in this piece.  Your thoughts?

Show and Tell: new stuff

Here are a few items I got this week that I'm excited about. 

1.  Manimal Fringe Booties.  I have been drooling over these for a long time now.  These shoes are handmade by Kristen Lombardi in her Brooklyn studio.  As luck would have it, I found a brand new pair on eBay in my size! Check out all of Manimal's fantastic styles here, which includes the most adorable baby moccasins.

2.  Embroidered apron. My mother recently took a trip to Korea. She loved the embroidered aprons that the flight attendants were wearing and brought one home for me.  There are straps that cross in the back, and it's a button closure versus a tie.  I like the full coverage, but it'll be sad when the apron gets its first stain.  It just seems too pretty to be used as a grease guard.

3.  Canon A35F.  My vintage camera collection keeps growing.  This is my latest addition.  It cost me $12.50 at a thrift store.  It just needed a little cleaning and new batteries, but it looks to be in great shape.  Currently I have film loaded in four different cameras.  I'm anxious to see how the roll in the Canon A35F turns out.

The art of pojagi

[image sources: Jung Yul Park, London Korean Links, Sri Threads]

A pojagi is a Korean wrapping cloth, normally hand-pieced together from fabric scraps.  For many centuries, pojagi wrapping cloths have been used in common and royal homes.  In this post, I mentioned digging out from the cedar chest the pojagi my grandmother gave me (top right photo).  My grandmother was a teenager when she made it, so I'm guessing it dates back to the 1920s.

When she first showed me the pojagi, she pointed to the center and said the flower was one of her first embroidery works.  I was amazed by the precise and even stitching.  Embroidery has a long history in Korea, and it's not uncommon to see it adorning household items and clothing.  I recently read here about a debt that a Korean ruler owed the emperor of China during the medieval times.  The emperor requested that the most skilled Korean embroiderers be sent to his court, and this settled the debt.

Whenever I see a tied pojagi, it brings back a lot of childhood memories of my grandmother wrapping containers of food and articles of clothing.  I didn't realize there was such an international following of the art of pojagi until just a month ago!  I was browsing art blogs one morning when I came across two separate posts on pojagi. The Brooklyn-based textile gallery, Sri,  posted these beautiful images on their blog:

And here's a video on pojagi that the Rhode Island School of Design put together.  If only they offered  a class like this when I was in school!

Etsy treasury: street smart

OK, this treasury thing on Etsy can be addicting!  I've got to limit myself to one treasury a month . . . well, maybe every two weeks is fine.  Here's the new collection I just put together.

Artist Interview: Kathrin Achenbach of Annekata

When I first came across Kathrin's blog last month, it was one of those new-favorite-blog freakout moments.  I was engrossed in every post, quickly falling into the "how many hours just passed before me" state.  You might remember me first mentioning her blog, Annekata, as the catalyst to my recent fabric tape frenzy.  And the fabric tape idea is just one of many clever projects that Kathrin demonstrates on her blog.  Having lived in cities all over the world and with a background in theater, Kathrin's craft and artistry is unique and refreshing, yet classic.  Her method is slow design, and her material of choice is salvaged. . . music to my ears!

How would you describe your work?

It is timeless, with the time trapped within,
humble,
low to no footprint,
recycled, and in some way, unfinished.

  
What inspires you to create?

I'm fascinated by the relationship people have with their "things" and the role that "time" plays. Two of my preferred mediums to explore those relationships are hand-sewing and embroidery. They're slow and let me explore the details of what's decorative and functional, and create a visual/tactile representation of it.

Some of the questions I ask are:
What is our time worth?
Why do we value our time more than other people's time?

And inspiring me are all the people who spend time making "something from nothing".



What artist tool/material do you love using at this moment?

Fiber. Always loved textiles. My grandparents had a small convenience/notions store when I was a little girl and I fondly remember the inventory. The old cash registers, the yarn spools, embroidery threads and the stacks of fabric. I still have some beautiful starched linen from this now long-gone store.

The store also sold paper goods: ledger forms, envelopes of all shapes and sizes and spiral bound notebooks.  I love paper for many reasons and am curious of its uncertain future as it seems to quietly fade away. Paper also lends itself to a myriad of different and exciting applications: decoupage, fashion, decoration etc.

As for tools, I love the simple ones. The ones I can manipulate with my own hands and repair or replace easily. I have a difficult relationship with my camera. It seems indispensable in our virtual world, but I'm not a fan of digital photography (even though there are some amazing artists out there). And my relationship with the sewing machine is simply neurotic.

What accomplishments are you most proud of?

I feel very much in charge of my life. I live where I want, with the people I love and do (for the most part) what I please.

My intention is to spend as much time as I can with my daughter, husband and my work. What I remember of my childhood is that my parents always had time for me. And how important that was.

Who are a few of your favorite artists?

Oh my, there are so many. As for writers I love Emily Bronte, Juan Ramon Jimenez and Garcia Lorca. Some of my favorite photographers are: August Sander, Dorothea Lange. And I like Ramon Masats a documentary photographer from Spain. Painters: Nicolas de Stael, Andrew Wyeth.  Gunta Stölzl produced fantastic work as did Hannelore Baron. And I love Joseph Cornell's boxes.  Andrew Goldsworthy makes me think and in the world of fashion I admire Rei Kawakubo and Alexander McQueen who sadly left this world too early.

What inspired you to start your blog, and what is the origin of the name Annekata?

I am not a very organized person, so many ideas and projects were either discarded or forgotten or given away, and I felt that it was time to create a visual file cabinet of my work. A blog seemed a great format to accomplish this. It forces me to be more disciplined in my creative process. Every morning I sit down and write. It seemed that the blog took on its own character and became another child (begging constantly for attention). We are figuring out together where to go with this. The feedback of readers has been most helpful and insightful, and I want to integrate that spirit into my work.

The name Annekata is an abbreviation of my full name: Anne Kat(hrin) A(chenbach). I wanted a name without defining my blog too much so it could go in any direction. The other domain names I came up with, unfortunately, led in some way or another to "inappropriate" content.

Apart from your creative work, what else do you love to do?

Traveling. On top of my list. And food. And the combination of both. I've been recently interested in the raw food movement. Primarily, because of its very artistic approach. The bigger the constraint, the more creative possibilities people come up with. And the presentation of raw food (done with care) is often incredible. (You won't believe how artfully one can arrange salad greens!)

If you had a spare hour in the day, how would you spend it?

Procrastinating!

Thanks, Kathrin, for such lovely photographs and a wonderful interview! I feel so inspired to embroider now- and eat a few raw broccoli while doing it.