When I lived in London, I remember walking home from work in the wintertime after the sun had gone down. I loved it. It was dark enough for lights to be turned on, but not late enough for curtains to be drawn. I could see into the windows of houses as I walked past. Those small snap-shots into other people’s living rooms were fascinating to me. It was especially wonderful at Christmas-time…
I suspect many of us in the online world take the plunge to enter the blogging fray after a period of blog stalking*. I will admit to my share of this. It’s a little like looking into other people’s living room windows. You get a wee taste of their world.
One of my earliest blog finds was Were I So Besotted. Brooklyn-based Iviva Olenick is a hugely talented fibre artist who creates the most beautiful and original narrative embroidery. She calls her small-scale, usually autobiographical pieces her ‘hand-stitched blog’. Her work is both charming and honest. I love it.
Iviva is active within the embroidery community. She runs workshops at venues like the Textile Arts Center and teaching stitching at the Pratt Institute.
If you have some time, go and check out her blog, Were I So Besotted. It’s gorgeous.
(All images sourced from Iviva Olenick’s blog here)
*blog stalk: to religiously check a particular blog of interest for any new content
I have just checked out her blog – she is amazingly talented! As a non-thread person, I am in awe of how she can embroider (is that the word?!) just as I would write with a pen. Thanks for sharing this!
Hey Cate – Yes! Embroider IS the word! (ha!) I feel the same way – she is very talented. 🙂
People are so amazingly creative! Thanks for sharing!
so cool!!! Love ‘Dude, I’m not your sweetie’ lol!
XX.dd
I think that’s my personal favourite, too.
O! I love this … thanks …
Pleasure, Mr Stainforth! Happy to oblige.
Cheers for the follow 🙂
Hi,
Wow, a lot of talent indeed, I loved these. 😀
Glad you liked ’em, Mags! 🙂
Love this!! Just brilliant…. ‘Dude, I’m not your sweetie’.
I know! I want that piece framed and on my wall!
I adore her work, and I have a feeling I would adore her too. Cowboys? Come on….stuff of childhood memories for sure. Thanks J!
Brilliant, eh? (You’re Canadian, so as a Kiwi I feel we can bond about the ‘eh’!) Makes me want to embroider… Scary!
Wow. Incredible. Her work is incredibly poetic and so lovely with the hand stitching. Off to consume her entire blog!
fascinating work!
Hi Harriet – thanks for popping in. She’s pretty clever, isn’t she?
You have opened my eyes …..I am SO a blog stalker, do you think there is a self help group {p’raps someone has a blog…. 🙂 }
Now I have two more to stalk , yours and the beautiful embroidery lady.
Hope you dont mind me Reblogging you.
aalid
Blog stalking is terminal. There is no cure. Sorry.
Re-blog away. It’s the best compliment!
Cheers! 🙂
Reblogged this on mageandraven and commented:
This post opened my eyes to the fact that I am a Blog Stalker, and also to the beautiful narrative embroidery of Iviva Olenick.
You are too funny! Happy you enjoyed it and made discoveries! 🙂