Mysteries of the Sea by Kris Grubb (embroidery) Not For Sale

Kris shares, “My chosen medium is thread sewn into cloth. There are myriads of types of embroidery threads and hundreds, if not thousands, of stitches to bring an image to life. I used these threads and stitches to create the fur, scales and fins of animals who are both real and imaginary.”

“Mysteries of the Sea” – The jacket was made as a love letter for my granddaughter. Our family has strong ties to water and we spend any time we can by the ocean. My granddaughter loves all the mysterious things under the ocean’s surface and I love to bring her visions to life. Together, we picked most of the creatures for me to swim into existence with my threads on a jacket she can wear. I thought of the patches as a sort of tattoos in thread. Each of the creatures evoke the mystery and beauty of the deep sea, and the Kraken patches on the shoulders especially recall the folklore of ancient seafarers. The catfish combines my granddaughter’s big black cat, Kylo Ren, and a fantastical fish swimming up from the depths of the ocean where a paisley octopus lives.

“Where the Wild Things Are” – One of my family’s favorite children’s book is the fantasy book by Maurice Sendak, “Where the Wild Things Are.” This submission is done in embroidery on hand-painted sailcloth depicting a page from the wild rumpus of Max and the monsters whom Max encounters in this enchanting story about a mischievous boy who always wears his wolf suit and is sent to bed without his supper.