I’m putting in long hours and counting down the days until I deliver this big piece to Bellevue Arts Museum. I got the front panels of all the pieces glued up and ready for stitching by Tuesday afternoon and faced the next set of decisions. What does the stitching look like?

The stitching often is what impresses people. I think it’s because most people don’t sew anymore and there is a lot it in my work. Don’t tell anybody, but it’s actually the fastest part of the whole process. It is integral and adds strength to the piece but it is mainly embellishment. It’s the icing on the cake, and like the icing, it’s the part most people notice so it better look good. And it’s also pretty hard to fix if I f— it up.

Okay, so what is this stitching going to look like? I went back to my source photos of sea fans. The branching patterns are intricate and delicate. Wow, not only would that be a tremendous amount of stitching but how would I relate that to the patterns on the fabrics? I went back to Google and typed in soft coral, the new title for the piece.

I finally decided on the title, Soft Coral, last week. I’ve been working on the project under the working title, Venus Fan. It’s a common name of a type of sea fan, the original inspiration for the piece. I knew from the beginning I had to change the title. My pieces all look like vaginas anyway and naming them Venus wasn’t going to help any. The latin name is Gorgonia, which wasn’t any better, really. Gorgons? Medusa? Soft Coral works as a title because it references the inspiration and the environmental concerns but broadens the reference.  It feels right because it also speaks to the media.

So by opening up the research with the new title I found inspiration for the stitching. There are so many beautiful soft corals of so many different kinds. Seeing the variety has allowed me to loosen up and work with the patterns on the cloth and the way the panel fits within the individual piece and in the piece as a whole. I’m vrooming along. Which is good because I have to deliver this piece in eleven days.