Perseverance during a slow process

 This week I worked on a lot of pieces that required surface embroidery...a lot of surface embroidery, in a butt in chair get to work sort of way......

work in progress for a looong time

 My design process involves a lot of preparation at the beginning. I have a little glimmer of an idea and fool around with some sketches, or I might pick up a little shell, or pebble, or pod on a walk. I generally start by sculpting or casting it in multiples. Then the fun part  begins... I  choose colors, dye the  wool, and silk, choose threads, beads and techniques....such energy and excitement for a week or two and then.....well here is one of my favorite art quotes

Artmaking involves skills that can be learned....In large measure, becoming an artist consists of learning to accept yourself, which makes your work personal, and in following your own voice, which makes your work distinctive. Clearly, these qualities can be nurtured by others. But even talent is rarely distinguishable, over the long run, from perseverance and lots of hard work."         - David Bayles 



New Work Waiting to be Embroidered



 hmm... hard work sounds a lot like hand work...coincidence?

see more of my art at DeborahJohnsonArt,com

Goddesses with Happy Endings

Today I'm working on several paintings from the same series. I'm interested in re-telling  the endings of myth's and stories that use the divine feminine as a central theme.Growing up I remember how annoyed I was as a female when goddesses, and other stories involving women had such unhappy endings....so visually I am giving them a do-over, a pass to be joyful, the endings I wished for, and the one's I want for my daughters. 

This is a weaving I'm working on.I'll add more photo's as the work progresses .This piece is titled "Ophelia Reconsiders" I'm weaving on a linen Warp with hand dyed silk and wool weft . I started this as a painting and decided I would weave it first before finishing the canvas,so I took it off the stretcher bars and placed it behind the warp....weaving gives me time to contemplate, and surprisingly the structure provided by the warp threads forces creative thinking in color and design choices.  You can see more of my work when  you stop by my website.  DeborahJohnsonArt.com