This autumn has been absolutely perfect here in New England ! As I drive around the hills of my central Massachusetts area I feel like a child on Christmas morning; seeing the changing colors and blue skies as gifts that change every day. I keep thinking I should stop and take photos of the trees and foliage I want to remember. But, I have found that when I take a mental photo in my mind they often seem to remain a beautiful memory much better than a photo which never seems to do it justice with out the addition of filters and digital adjustments.

I've been drawing from the inspiration of these beautiful days and pouring that into the emerging Beasts II series while also keeping an eye on the encrouching Holiday season and what that means for my commercial work. Lots of exciting things in the works at Phygment Studio !

I've been trying to push the boundaries a bit of my embroidery on tissue paper techniques with this Beasts II series. I've been using loose gouache images as a base to embroider over in a sketch-like, unplanned way. I get as quiet as I can and work intuitively with the needle and thread. I do what feels right not what design rules might dictate. For example, I don't make the "seeds" in the heirloom tomato images perfectly balanced: there may be more seeds on one side of the cut tomato then the other...because it's nature and nature isn't a computer. I throw a stitched "x" in random places because I feel it visually needs some energy in that particular area. Does it make sense? Do we see man-made marks on tomatoes? No....or do we? How are our modern fruits and vegetables marked by mankind's need for "better" food which originates in a perfect form to begin with?

These will be placed on the Guernsey Goat piece:

You can see the embroidered leaf-like shapes on the left which have been glued in place. The embroidered tomato shapes, etc... will be placed on the right. I will then go back in and paint in added color and detail. Stay tuned and watch more progress on my Instagram account!

“I will be talking about my Beasts series as well as this emerging Beasts II series and the process of embroidering on tissue paper at the Reuben Hoar Library @ 41 Shattuck Street in Littleton, MA on November 12 @ 7pm. A collection of works from these two series will be on display from October 29th- December 3rd. ”

I have been working with a new printer closer to home (see previous post) and can not wait to launch my advent doodle kit in my shop here on my website ! Last year I spontaneously decided to post a doodle a day from my sketch books during the advent season. I had so many people ask if I would be offering them as a calendar that this kit was born. I will launch it here - so please subscribe and stay tuned!!