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I am a Child – Work in Progress

September 6, 2021 by Clara Nartey Leave a Comment

Hey Creative Friend, I’ve been working on this piece for a while now. It’s called I’m a Child. I’ll share the backstory to this piece with you in another post. In this article, I want to show you the “I am a Child” work in progress photos. They’re so informative.

I haven’t done work in progress photos for a while. I feel like it’s time to bring it back here on the blog. Of course, if you want to see the work as it progresses through each week, then follow me on my Instagram page. On my IG page, I post weekly updates including videos and then join my newsletter to hear behind the scenes discussions of my studio work and exhibitions. When you follow me on Instagram, remember to hit the bell next to my name and then turn on notifications (for posts, stories, IGTV, and live videos). Unfortunately, the way Instagram works, following me does not guarantee you’ll see everything I post unless you turn on notifications.

Okay, now that we’ve got that out of the way, let’s carry on.

I am a Child Work in progress | Textile Art |
I started by drawing (I mean stitching) a book on a table. It took me so many days to paint the original pattern for this table top

Here on the blog, what I’m thinking of doing is, a summary post after I’ve completed each piece. This way, I can show you the stages through which it progressed. I believe that the back of my work has a lot of character. It shows a certain angle of my creative thinking process that the front is not able to capture.

Stitching the legs of the table was a challenge that I truly enjoyed overcoming

While I’m somewhat controlled in the the drawing and digital illustration stage, it’s not so when I’m stitching. During the stitching stage, I truly let go and allow the piece to tell me what to do. During the illustration stage, I don’t plan ahead how I’m going to stitch what I’m drawing. Neither do I worry that something I’m drawing will be difficult to stitch. I just draw, then figure out the stitching when it’s time to stitch.

Next, I began to stitch the clothes of my figure

I’m still working on letting go in a similar way with the illustration phase. I’m a work in progress and that phase of my art process is something that I’m still working on. Having said that, it’s not the entire illustration phase I tend to be controlled about. For example, when I’m choosing color schemes, I let it happen organically. I’m also very loose when I’m creating patterns or designing the clothes of my figures. I take the same approach even when I’m creating their hairstyles. I’m not so controlled about that either.

I am a Child | Work in Progress | Textile Art
Then, I stitched the face, hand and legs

In light of all of that I think that looking at the stitching on the back of my work shows you the improv way in which I approach that phase of my work. The quilting police will certainly have issues with a lot of my ways. Because for me, instead of aiming for perfection, I aim for expression. What’s the best way I can express myself through stitch? I seek that path and pursue it with a passion.

I am a Child | Work in Progress | Textile Art| Thread Sketching #ThreadPainting
Detail Stitching of the face

So, here’s the first of hopefully more work- in-progress posts where I’ll give you a look at how the stitching progresses in my work.

Thread Painting | Thread Sketching |Fiber Art
Detail Stitching of hand, sleeve, shirt, and table

Taking progress photos help me relive the process of creating the artwork. Without them, I sometimes forget what the challenges and joys of creating a piece were. The “I’m a Child” work in progress photos for example, remind me of the time I stitched the leg of the table. When I got to the table’s leg, it looked so big. I was intimidated. I couldn’t think of how to stitch it.

Thread Painting | I'm a Child | Thread Sketching
And then she gets a skirt

Like I said, I don’t pre-plan my stitching. So, I sat there with the work pinned to the wall just staring at it. I do that a lot. I just stare at the work and let it speak back to me. Eventually, I picked it off the wall, put it on the sewing machine and started to stitch.

Bantu Knots | Thread Sketching | Textile Art
Then she visits my hair salon and gets her hair done in bantu knots

Although I still wasn’t sure how to proceed, I was calm and ready to explore, experiment and do something with that portion of the work. Mind you, I have a I-don’t-rip-stitches rule. Of course that puts extra pressure on me to either like what I stitch or figure out a way to fix it without ripping stitches out.

Bantu Knots | Girl | Black hairstyle | African American girl
Hair and Face Details

What I’ve learned over the years is that the trick to experimenting, and discovering new things is developing the ability to sit with discomfort. Yes! You heard me right. Learn to sit with the discomfort of the uncertainty about that new thing you’re trying to do. Don’t rush to the seam ripper, or the eraser to get rid of your initial attempts. Just give it time to evolve. More often than not, after a while, you’ll see it come together.

The background stitching was interesting. I’m so happy with the graphic nature with which the stitching turned out

That’s what happened to the stitching I did on the leg of this table. I really love this maze-like pattern that eventually emerged. It’s a pattern I’m certainly going to add to my tool box.

I am Child | Textile Art | Large Scale Art| Thread Painting | Thread Sketching
And here I am – hanging out with my art

That’s it for this “I’m a Child” work-in-progress post. Let me know if you’ll like to see more of this type of posts.

Warmest Regards.

Clara's Signature

PS: Do you know someone who’ll enjoy my blog posts? Why don’t you share it with them. Spread the joy. 🙂

The Making of I am a Child | Textile art | Thread Painting |mFree motion quilting
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