Quills and Frills-2/7/2015 Jason Hardung, BangsyDesigns, Aleathia Drehmer

Aleathia says:

The other day I was sort of feeling envious of a person I know about how good of a painter he has become.  He started off a bit rocky, but stuck with it and honed his craft and now his work is something I look forward to seeing.

Jason Hardung is living in Fort Collins, CO.  I met him years ago in Connecticut for a poetry reading and fell in love with his writing then.  I have silently followed his life, watching him grow as a writer and a person, and eventually into a painter.

He started off here:

and ended up here:

I am so happy for him and impressed by his transformation as a painter.  I realized something the other day that each of us has a vision in ourselves that needs to come out.  In Jason's case, paint speaks to him where it says nothing to me when the brush is in my hand.  It feels like a foreign object and the paint feels heavy and clumsy.  I have tried on many occasions to paint...even taken art classes.  I love markers and geometrics.  I feel successful when I use them, but more so in the case of needle arts such as cross stitch.

I began 13 years ago learning to cross stitch an English cottage for a magnet.  It was tedious and the colors were boring, but it was something to do.  In recent years I went rogue and did my own abstract patterns.  I own a software program that converts photos into patterns.  I never really used it to be honest.  Directions were never my strong suit, but in the last year I have embraced it and I find that this is my particular artistic calling.  I can convert my own photographs into tangible art; into something that has depth and texture.  It took this little envy of Jason Hardung's work to make me figure this out.  For that, I am grateful.

And since we are on needle craft as art, my friend Michelle Falco has taken up embroidery (I tried this and fuck all if I can't make it work) and rocking the shit out of it.  

She makes cool decorative pieces that you can buy to hang all over your damn house.  Her Etsy is called BangsyDesigns.  You should go there and buy stuff.

Seriously, Michelle started out here:

and in a few short months has moved on to here:

Get out there and support your aspiring artists.  I know that both Jason Hardung and Michelle Falco do consignment.  Get a hold of them if you need some personalized art.  Power to the people.