A Trip to Boston

Sophie in her studio.

Sophie working on a tote.

Oops controls things in the studio.

Inspiration in Sophie's studio.

I went to visit my friend Sophie Truong in Boston this week. Her studio is at the Boston Center for The Arts, and she works in fiber primarily. She also has a shop on Etsy, and soon on Big Cartel to sell her beautiful handmade leather bags, totes, clutches, etc. You may remember her work made from recycled used tea bags posted here awhile back. She has done all manner of stitching, drawing and painting, and has worked with encaustic and wire as well. Take a look at Sophie's blog here. I always find her studio to be a place of happy productivity. I made these drawings while I was there, in between filling up on chinese dumplings and twice-baked brioche.

A drawing I did while visiting.

A drawing I did while visiting.

A drawing I did while visiting.

I got to catch up with another friend, Gisela Griffith, who also has her studio at the BCA. She is working on a a project she calls Secrets of Nature. She makes botanical drawings of the plants used in chemotherapy, and then transfers the drawings onto antique linens. She then creates embroidery kits, complete with needle, floss, hoop, and detailed instructions. These she offers to patients who are undergoing chemotherapy. She then collects the work, and will include it in a show. She is also developing this project and looking for funding so the kits can be offered in hospital cancer treatment centers on a wider basis. She is re-working  her website, but it's not finished just yet. Here are some photos I took of the work in her studio.

Some of the embroideries which have been completed.

Secrets of Nature kits

Gisela has also worked extensively with birchbark, and I've put in a photo of a series of paintings that led up to the Secrets of Nature project.

All this, and she is a very cute dresser, too!