5 minute read
A Thread Above The Art of Mindy Smith
BY HOLLY DODGE
For many, embroidery is considered a quaint and traditional hobby. Motifs of geese on tea towels and hearts on napkins may come to mind. But for artist Mindy Smith, embroidery has become a canvas for her to embroider chunky anatomical organs, realistic spiders, 3D mushrooms, and gothic skulls. Her intricate works utilize many complex embroidery techniques and range in size.
Mindy and her high school sweetheart husband of fifteen years live in Lower North with their two middle school children. When she isn’t tediously stabbing fabric, she works as a Benefits Manager for Grace Management. Before that, she spent 11 years as a talented cake decorator at Hilltop Hy-Vee. Mindy shares, “I’ve just always wanted to create. In high school, everyone wanted me to go for art, but I didn’t want it to be my job.”
Through the years, Mindy has busied herself with new crafts and many mediums. “There is very little that I look at, and I think I can’t create that myself.” Mindy credits her creativity to her mother, who taught her how to sew, crochet, and embroider as a youth.
In 2016, her foundational knowledge of embroidery and curiosity led her to research additional embroidery techniques on the popular internet forum Reddit. She recalls someone posting a realistic, 3D embroidered eye, and it struck her: “Whoa, you can do whatever you want?!” That’s when she discovered stumpwork.
Stumpwork is an intensive form of three-dimensional embroidery in which different techniques are employed to raise stitches above the canvas. It originated in London in the 1500s. Various techniques have evolved for a technique that has existed for so long.
Mindy studied these various techniques and learned about Hardanger (Hardangersøm) embroidery. The Norwegian technique involves creating stitch patterns and then removing or cutting the negative space. After five years of researching and learning, she finally got the confidence to give it a stab.
Mindy’s detailed creations involve a methodical approach. She begins by designing an original pattern and finding reference images. Selecting her embroidery thread colors
is a feat in itself. “It’s like I’m painting with thread. But unlike paint, I can’t mix colors.” After transferring her pattern to fabric, she begins to mark where color transitions need to occur and begins patiently creating.
Her works vary in size. Some are small cameos featuring a realistic polypore mushroom or an anatomical heart. But as her skills advanced, she began larger works; her largest is a diptych with two portraits covered in dimensional and cascading leaves and mushrooms. Each canvas measures 18” x 24”. Between pattern working and finishing, a large work can take more than 80 hours to complete.
But no matter the size, these works all share a staggering display of technique, patience, and creativity. Mindy knew early on that she didn’t want to embroider in the typical ‘pretty’ or ‘decorative’ way; rather, she was inspired to expand the technique by featuring dark images, anatomy, and a slew of bugs. The images she references are full of complex textures and shadows that often occur in nature.
Another technique Mindy uses in her work is wire slips, which involve intricate stitches and thin wire. She uses this method to articulate small cicada wings or to create delicate floating leaves. One work displays a figure unraveling as a three-dimensional ribbon. She also uses free-motion machine embroidery, which is commonly used in quilting, allowing her to create larger-scale pieces.
Seeing these fantastic pieces in person is a real treat. Just this past October, Mindy displayed 46 of her original works at the 410 Project Art Gallery. Twenty of her pieces were created this year alone. Mindy says that she usually embroiders for a few hours every evening. She is also constantly hunting for thrifted and repurposed frames to house her creations.
Mindy encourages hobbyists to consider the limitless potential of embroidery. Compared to other hobbies, it’s relatively inexpensive to begin. She just recently decided to upgrade and get herself an embroidery stand, which she insists is not necessary but nice for the amount of time she spends with her art.
Her creative spirit is insatiable, and she plans to share her work at shows and markets in the future. She has also started an online store and social media page. “I just want to continue doing it and creating. I want to really take my time with it,” Mindy says. She is currently challenging herself to find even more complicated and detailed images to portray. She says she has a whole list of future projects, but most importantly, she wants to explore and relax with her method of thread painting.
You can follow Mindy’s artwork on Facebook: M.Smith Stitches
