Stitched Portraits: Kate Bush

It was my daughter's b-day yesterday and Kate Bush seemed a fitting rock star to share it.

She's only toured once in the late seventies, had her first demo funded by David Gilmour at age 16, took a long block of time away from music to raise her son, and still manages to create wildly original albums - most recently with 50 Words For Snow.

Kate Bush (coy smile):

  

Stitched Portraits: Geddy Lee

I saw the Rush documentary at a little movie theater in Massachusetts and a Rush tribute band opened up for the film. In between, while waiting in line to get a soda, someone mentioned Geddy Lee. Everyone probably mentioned Geddy Lee in this line, but one such utterance was overheard by a superfan, to which he exclaimed,

"GEDDY LEE IS THE HARDEST WORKING MAN IN SHOW BUSINESS!!!"

(With bass):

Stitched Portraits: Stanley Kubrick

A detailed perfectionist, believer in fidelity, and director of some of the most classic films of all time (Dr. Strangelove, The Shining, A Clockwork Orange...), Stanley Kubrick has inspired many other film directors and influenced the thinking of his entire audience.

When I mentioned to a close friend that I had to decide who the birthday portrait would be yesterday he said, "If it's Kubrick's birthday I don't think there are any other choices."

Stanley Kubrick (in a stare):

Stitched Portraits: Ruth Krauss

Krauss wrote children's book classics like A Hole is to Dig and I Can Fly,
She was married to Crockett Johnson (of Harold and the Purple Crayon),
Was responsible for giving Maurice Sendak his first book illustration job,
Who described her as a "Giant"

Ruth Krauss (with smile):

Stitched Portraits: Kristin Chenoweth

As Olive Snook I fell in love with Kristin Chenoweth.
Now, I would watch anything with her in it.

It was her birthday yesterday,
so here's a crazy picture of her...

Stitched Portraits: Woody and Charles Harrelson

Woody Harrelson plays characters in film and on television with gusto. In real life, he is an advocate for peace.

Charles Harrelson was his father, who abandoned the family when Woody was young and committed multiple murders as a hitman.

The strange thing is that they share the same birthday - July 23.

In 1982 Woody was arrested for dancing in the street. Below he is pictured in the mug shot for that arrest, his father's mug shot dangling around his neck:

Stitched Portraits: Brian Chippendale

On a day where noteworthy individuals were abound, I was happy to choose a local Providence icon to celebrate with a birthday portrait. An inspiring force of energy and a nice guy (I'll personally vouch for that - he was very gracious when I met him on the street and gushed about my love of LB), Chippendale is one half of thee noise rock band of the century. Lightning Bolt can always take a crowd and whip them into a froth. I'm happy to be part of that froth on occasion.

Also an illustrator, he combines collage, pattern, and cartoon with the same ethos as his drumming style - to fill as much of the space as possible.

Brian Chippendale (masked):

Today is a Birthday: Stitched Portraits at the Craftland Gallery

The showing at the Craftland Gallery is in its final week and I wanted to share some of the images from it with the folks who could not be in Rhode Island. Also, as a reminder, there will be a live portrait stitching event this Thursday, July 26th. I'll be transporting my basement studio to Craftland and making three custom portraits in three hours. Nervous and excited...

Although the show features only a selction of the work, for the opening I also included one blank wall in the gallery that featured a series of framed calendar dates only. In the week that followed I returned to the gallery every day to hang the portraits as they were completed.

Below I've included some process shots:

In all, the experience of having my first solo show has been a positive and rich amount of work. I am thankful to the friends and family that have supported me in making it happen. And thank you to Jen and Deb from Craftland too!  

Now, I'll complete the rest of this year's portraits and any other projects and adventures that present themselves as this thing progresses. It's been kind of amazing to me already. Thanks for reading and looking at all these stitches...