Join Big Blue Marble and our co-hosts Wild Hand Fiber Arts and Red Seeds/ArtemisPack as we welcome fiber artist Christi Johnson and her new book about the transformative magic of embroidery.
This event will be on zoom. Registration is free but required through Eventbrite.
Hand embroidery can be a joyous respite from busy daily life. It is an exploration of material, an invitation to slow down, and it allows time for contemplation. Mystical Stitches combines this beloved and accessible craft with a spiritual element, introducing nearly 200 original designs for different symbols readers can use to create personal icons to wear or embellish items in the home. Christi Johnson offers patterns inspired by botanicals, animals, numbers, the cosmos, earth elements, and mythological icons for novice or well-practiced crafters to combine into talismans with personal meaning. Johnson’s folk art style is vibrant and unintimidating and provides a framework for bringing spiritual elements into physical form. In addition to basic techniques, an overview of material options, and an illustrated encyclopedia of stitches, the extensive treasury of symbols is lavishly photographed in hand-stitched, full-color spreads that will inspire readers to create personalized designs to stitch on clothes, hang on the wall, place on an altar, carry with them, or display in a place of prominence.
My mission, as both an artist and a teacher, is to break through the lies we tell ourselves about our own creative capabilities so we can better access our abilities to transform. I teach embroidery and textile arts for the imperfect human - for the visionary who wants to transform their dreams into textural designs on fabric through the art of embroidery.
These teachings are for the hesitant creative, those who think they don’t really know how to draw, those who feel they aren’t that skilled - to show them the skills they need to embrace their most creative selves.
You are not a machine. Your imperfections make you more human, we’re drawn to them like moths to a porch light.
Somehow that flaw; like an unusual face or an oddly grown flower; makes us stop and stare, bringing us in closer for further inspection. It makes us question the way things should be, opens us up to new forms.