The sewing machine is a tool for expressive free-form drawing. Why not use it to draw directly from the model?

Imagine: your machine is set-up, loaded with your favourite coloured threads, your chosen cloth is ready, and the elegantly costumed model is posing in front of you.

For the textile artist, no greater thrill exists: the challenge of it, the freedom of letting go (you just cannot always control what will happen), and the potential for discovery. Unexpected and miraculous things happen!

This short course is intended to introduce students to the art of machine embroidery as an expressive drawing tool for quick studies from the live model. The subject will be both costumed and nude. We will also be creating gestural studies from floral bouquets.

Students will be working on linen, cotton, and canvas as well as pre-dyed fabrics. We will consider cloth texture and will work both with and without stabilizers to encourage natural cloth puckering.

No previous drawing experience is necessary.