Learning new techniques

One of the first things I helped Kay with was working on packing up her artwork for an upcoming show. She showed me the proper way of folding the prices in plastic so that they don't get damaged. I had never really thought about how to  package artwork before so I found this process very interesting, smart and useful. She uses a method of folding down the tape on the plastic to make it easy to open. We worked together on the large prices some of which were around 30 feet and bigger than her studio space. We boxed the prices and she drove them to the show in Williamsport that week.

The next time I saw Kay we worked on inventory of her work. This process included recording every piece into an excel document with its title, date and dimensions. Along with the documentation, we also sewed on hand made labels to the back of each piece. The labels themselves take time to sew and create and then each one is hand stitched to the back. After measuring each piece, Kay would photograph it and pack it in the proper box. She showed me some tips on photographing 3D works which I really appreciated! Together we documented over 100 works!

On our next meeting, Kay let me actually assist her in making some of her stuffed creations which I was extremely nervous about because I didn't want to mess any of them up! It's hard to tell from just looking at the pieces how incredibly labor intensive each one really is! I helped create three small stuffed flames which took me the entire day! Her process for these flames started with painting the actual piece of fabric. From there she traces the outline to be sewn around on a light table. After sewing around the line, she had me cut the excess fabric, create radiating cuts and flip inside it out. The flipping proceeds takes the longest because you have to make sure to get all the tiny corners out and the stuffing is a lot more difficult than it seems to get into the tiny places! After this we piped in some armature wire so the piece could be manipulated and bended. I loved learning her process of making these things and am looking forward to using some of it in my own sewing work!

The next thing I worked on was a large table unit piece she was making to give to her former fellow and friend Monica, who's story was told through the console. This was another interesting process that was similar to quilting. She had me sew directly onto the piece which made me extremely nervous again. I loved learning new techniques I can use in my quilting and future work! I’ve also been working on a few other similar pieces along with practicing more skills on the sewing machine like threading the bobbin and learning how to freehand.  Attached are some of the projects I've been working on!