Sewing Stitches


Before I began sewing my canvases together on a regular basis, I would often paint an area of a canvas, and then suddenly change my mind about what I wanted in the subject matter. I often painted over perfectly good renderings of an arm or a foot, or whatever. Obviously this was very frustrating and wasted precious hours. So,I decided to literally cut out the areas I would have painted over. I then replace the area with the newer idea. The process of cutting away and piecing back together gives me a bit of a ‘Dr. Frankenstein’ complex, which gives me endless freedom and fun in the studio... the way it should be …… and I don’t know when I will ever tire of it. “Off with her head, and on with another!”, I like to say. 

Binding the canvas together is a whole other ‘thrill'. Since I have always been interested in the process of an artists mind, I like the idea of showing where the 'edits' were made in my work. Therefore, when I join one canvas to another, I want it to be obvious. For example, a series of crudely hand sewn stitches (black yarn) may weave across a neck where a head has been replaced. In other paintings I might choose to replace a hand with something else entirely using the same big 'ugly' stitches.

I usually use burlap sewn around the canvas as a background of sorts. Burlap's neutral color and rough texture bring everything 'together'. To preserve the fibers, the yarn is coated in acrylic paint, and the burlap is coated with polyurethane, then a coat of varnish is applied to all canvas and etc.

In regard to my theme, 'Diffucult Women' this sewing process is what was mainly responsible for the development of those ideas.