Friday, April 23, 2010

Embroidery Your Grandma Never Did









THIS IS THE FIRST SERIOUS ART THAT DEBORAH SLABECK BAKER has made in nearly 25 years. She’s been occupied with her family and children . . . and dance had been her creative substitute. In the last year and a half she started making these embroideries and they have just been pouring out of her. They are a synthesis of all her past media and efforts. There are many references: needlework, samplers, hankies, silhouettes, and folk art. But they are also very personal, as this kind of work can be. She thinks of them as drawings, or poems/stories. She works directly on the fabric with thread — no pre-drawing or marking of the fabric — a kind of automatic embroidery. And this year. . . one of Baker’s images is being used as a holiday card for The Art Institute of Chicago!

Via Packer Schopf Gallery in Chicago. All images © Deborah Slabeck Baker.

10 comments:

Elizabeth said...

Great embroidery!!!!

rafi said...

While this is a wonderful quick way to create a design it does not always create the best result. You may find that outlines do not sew correctly or close enough to a design or that you have a lot of jump stitches to remove when you have embroidered your design. Do you remember when you embroidered a design from a pre-programmed card, CD or from one of the professional digitizers?Read more http://www.embroiderypakistan.com/

John Foster said...

Rafi: I don't believe you "get it." The kind of embroidery this artist uses is exactly the opposite of what your "digitized" slick embroidery in Pakistan does. Baker's method is done "by hand" -- for a reason. Working slowly, and with care she provides us with a wonderful result—the result SHE wants. What your company, via your web site offers is NOT art, but a slick provider of mass-produced stuff. We aren't buying what you're selling.

Molly said...

This is crazy! This is my Mom!!! Thanks for posting her art, she loves making them and I'm sure she will be thrilled to know you like them so much. All the best!

John Foster said...

I have never met you mom, but I am a big fan. Her work is awesome!

Som's Studio said...

Wow! Its like Deborah offers us a glimpse of her inner self.

meche said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
FSK said...

so so amazing!

John A. Riley said...

This is a fantastic use of an unlikely medium. Impressive!

Relics said...

Very Very Cool.

It kind of reminds me a little of Roger Brown work... also another Chicago person

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