HIGH SEA
Compassion leads this being to turn her rooster vehicle away from personal enlightenment to help relieve suffering in the cyclical world, represented here by the Tai Chi rabbits.
The kimono sleeves, sode, can be down, or lifted to reveal the Tai Chi rabbits.
It comes to pass
My parents came to Detroit from Scotland and Guernsey Channel Island. They gave me a spirit of adventure and a freedom to dream. I moved to Japan in 1990 and married a pretty Japanese girl in 1997. We bought a new home that had many windows, but no curtains. I said, "I will make the curtains. How hard can it be?" Hand sewing was slow so I bought an old Brother Sewing Machine for $50. No owners manual, no teacher. I just started sewing.
High Sea started from those humble beginnings. I decided to cut out a blue face. I loved that face so added green hair and a flowered shirt from a blouse in the studio. We had a pet rabbit named Magee that lived in our living room and I was beginning to study Tai Chi. The piece grew to include a woman cradling Tai Chi rabbits. I was fascinated by hands. I liked tracing lines around my hand or Miyuki's hands. A raised finger would attract a dragonfly. Hands would catch a fish. The days stayed full of creativity by beginning with just the simple face idea instead of a completely defined plan.
The foot pedal on the sewing machine felt natural to me, same feel as the gas pedal on a car. Born in the 'Motor City' and raised on motorcycles and cars led me to sew fast: turn left, right, race around the cloth, skid around corners, raise dust. Cloth had colors, textures, prints, stripes, flowers all right in front of me. The pieces burst beyond windows to cover walls. The new Millennium was just around the corner where I would enter Tokyo competitions, win prizes, have magazine articles written about my art.
Compassion leads this being to turn her rooster vehicle away from personal enlightenment to help relieve suffering in the cyclical world, represented here by the Tai Chi rabbits.
The kimono sleeves, sode, can be down, or lifted to reveal the Tai Chi rabbits.
It comes to pass
My parents came to Detroit from Scotland and Guernsey Channel Island. They gave me a spirit of adventure and a freedom to dream. I moved to Japan in 1990 and married a pretty Japanese girl in 1997. We bought a new home that had many windows, but no curtains. I said, "I will make the curtains. How hard can it be?" Hand sewing was slow so I bought an old Brother Sewing Machine for $50. No owners manual, no teacher. I just started sewing.
High Sea started from those humble beginnings. I decided to cut out a blue face. I loved that face so added green hair and a flowered shirt from a blouse in the studio. We had a pet rabbit named Magee that lived in our living room and I was beginning to study Tai Chi. The piece grew to include a woman cradling Tai Chi rabbits. I was fascinated by hands. I liked tracing lines around my hand or Miyuki's hands. A raised finger would attract a dragonfly. Hands would catch a fish. The days stayed full of creativity by beginning with just the simple face idea instead of a completely defined plan.
The foot pedal on the sewing machine felt natural to me, same feel as the gas pedal on a car. Born in the 'Motor City' and raised on motorcycles and cars led me to sew fast: turn left, right, race around the cloth, skid around corners, raise dust. Cloth had colors, textures, prints, stripes, flowers all right in front of me. The pieces burst beyond windows to cover walls. The new Millennium was just around the corner where I would enter Tokyo competitions, win prizes, have magazine articles written about my art.
Materials
kimono cloth, obi, flowered shirt, metal hooks and loops to hold up sleeves, cloth
Techniques
constructed in 3 vertical panels attached to obi sleeve, attachments for gallery to show sleeves up or down, appliqu�, machine sewn, linear thread drawing