Art and Heartache

No, not the book Jane Austen never got to write but close.

This is the story of the nice little piece of, yet unfinished, embroidery above.

If you follow me on Instagram (and why wouldn't you: @kenguroo) You have seen it in progress and may have recognized the design from different places (like the very last post before my long hiatus for example) but here is the full history:

the original sketch

If you are an artist or a craftsman /woman, you know what I'm talking about. You have an idea. Its good. Its exciting, you cant wait to start! you put hours, days maybe months or years of your life into it and then something goes wrong. An accident, it breaks, you spill something on it, it tears, it's gone. It can not be mended and neither can your heart.

As a digital illustrator I had my share of devastating crushes and freezes that left me staring unbelieving at a dark screen, knowing that I haven't saved for a while and it's all gone. its sad, its frustrating, it will ruing your day but no one suffers more then the ceramic artist.

And this is where it all started, as a sketch for a wall plaque design in my ceramics sketchbook.

So I started building the plaque and it took FOREVER. I don't know how long, more then a month. I finished it and I was happy. 

the late plaque 

Here is the sad part: If you are a ceramics artist and you can't afford your own kiln or, like me, you live in a 5th floor rented apartment and a huge fire hazard like a kiln is a huge no no, you have to use a communal kiln in a public ceramics studio, which, in New York City means a tiny space with a lot of people and kids. anyway long story short, sometime between firings it broke into million pieces and so did my heart.

Dramatic I know, what can I say... but eventually I got over it and perhaps slightly obsessed with it. I just really like it. So here it is as a color silkscreen, which you can still buy here (shameless!)

left: 3-colors hand pulled print right: b/w design for embroidery pattern

And if you scroll two posts down you can see my iphone case.
Did I mention an obsession?

So here is the latest craze, kids. My love of all things Scandinavian has brought me to cross stitching. It works perfectly with my designs and I LOVE it! It's addictive, it's relaxing, you do it while you watch tv... It's low-tech Candy Crush!

Anyway, I am still testing and perfecting the pattern but when I'm done it will be available for sale on my etsy store and you too can become a love sick Jane Austen heroine embroidering by candlelight... or while watching Scandal. Same thing.