Empress Wu Designs with Wilma

Wondering if I have the time,  I tentatively registered for the TextileArtist.org   Stitch Club. I started late but I have come to terms with being behind and will do the exercises when I feel in the mood ... my new formula  is:  (collection of ideas + good mood + time opportunity)  - (hesitation + self doubts) = happy project   So this weekend, it was time to tackle the first workshop by artist, Debbie Lyddon. No problem with "ideas" This is what Debbie says.....  " I walk, look and listen, I pick up an object and put it in my pocket. I make a container for it and place it ... in a place where I gather interesting objects together. I make connections and I tell stories....  This workshop is drawn from my love of walking, collecting, being curious , telling stories and making....  The challenge is to make three hand-stitched containers for a collection of three objects, natural or man made..."  from Stitch Club work...

I have just completed  more work on another corset. - no 3 in the series for the exhibtion "Crossing Borders". For background information, please read a previous post....  Borders #1  This corset has been painted with black and pewter acrylic and the lacing and buttons  have been replaced with wire. The corset with an edging of  authoritative, overpowering words  - silence-segregate- subvert - suppress- subdue- stifle-spurn represent the border and the boundary which still needs to be overcome to achieve gender equality.  Inside in graffiti style paint  is the slogan #MeToo The Me Too movement is a movement against sexual harassment and sexual assault. #MeToo spread virally in October 2017 as a hashtag used on social media in an attempt to demonstrate the widespread prevalence of sexual assault and harassment, especially in the workplace. (Wikipedia)   I added exaggerated wire breast covers to the front of the corset to furth...

How to begin?  It's always difficult to start a new series of art works .... researching and experimenting and making samples  Hopefully, these samples I made this week will form the basis of a series of  mixed media artworks I have been planning for  a couple of months. This is my main  "Borders"  assignment for a twelve month Masterclass I have been studying online this year.  All will be revealed in posts over the next month or so. As you can see from the photos, the underlying comment is feminist. I was very lucky to find   and purchase beautifully stitched corsets, complete with boning to work with.   The rationale for this work?  Considerable achievements towards gender equality have been made throughout history. Many ‘societal’ borders have been crossed. Nevertheless, barriers guarding gender stereotypes and the culture which surrounds them remain firm. The appalling statistics of domestic violence, the un...