December 2022 - Update

November 30, 2022

Xmas Art Market @ City Centre Artist Lodge (Dec. 3 + 4)
Vancouver Cityscape (Work in Progress)

Xmas Art Market @ City Centre Artist Lodge (Dec. 3 + 4)

❄️ It's a Winter Wonderland in Vancouver! ❄️

What better way to get into the holiday spirit than to check out the Holiday art market my studio this weekend?

🎄 Support local artists & businesses this holiday season and make someone do a happy holiday jig for joy 💃.

😋 Eat some food truck goodies, have a drink & stick around for the live music festival presented by Ice Cream Truck Live⁠ 🎶!

CONNECT X-Mas Market & Music Festival: Love is the Warmest Colour.⁠ ⁠

⁠When: Dec 3 & 4, 11am-7pm⁠

⁠What: This two-day community festival will combine an open studio art sale with live music and food trucks for a unique, immersive, celebration of Vancouver’s creative spirit.⁠

Where: City Centre Artist Lodge (2111 Main street - Main & 6th)⁠

⁠⁠I'm in studio# 211 ⁠
Upstairs under the big #1⁠
Entrance on the Main Street side.⁠

View event info & full list of artists.

Vancouver Cityscape (Work in Progress)

I’ve been busy working on getting this mixed textile project completed by the end of the year. With that said I still have lots to do before I’m done, so I’ll be keeping this blog update short and sweet. Here are some photos of the most recent progress.

*Back to the Future: Digital Art Through Embroidery*, 2022, Sunshine Coast Arts Council, Sechelt, BC

November 2022 - Update

October 31, 2022

Back to the Future: Digital Art Through Embroidery
Sunshine Coast Art Crawl
Vancouver Cityscape (Work in Progress)
First Saturday at City Centre (Nov. 5, 12-5pm)

Back to the Future: Digital Art Through Embroidery

Two weeks ago I travelled to Sechelt to install my solo exhibition at the Sunshine Coast Arts Council and I’m very pleased with how the show came together. It’s my largest showing of cross-stitch work to date! Embroidery is a slow process which means it takes a long time to produce enough work to warrant an entire show all to myself. I’m so proud of this accomplishment and it has definitely inspired and motivated me to continue down this path for my practice.

Here’s an excerpt from the exhibition wall text for further insight:

October 14 – November 12, 2022
Back to the Future: Digital Art Through Embroidery
The work included in this exhibition has inspired a shift in Mallory Donen’s practice, towards processes rooted in traditional craft passed down from generation of women in her family. Her art explores the intersection of digital art and embroidery. By using the distinct grid format of cross-stitching she creates connections between threads and pixels.
Donen embraces an approach to making art this is purposefully slow, emphasizing the value of time and dedication to her craft, in contrast to the fast-paced nature of digital technology. Her intention is to think purposefully about each handmade object she brings into the physical world and its potential impact.

*System Failure 03*, 2020, embroidery, Aida cloth, 8 x 10 inches

I’m happy to share that two pieces from my System Failure series (01 & 03) have sold! But if you’re interested in starting your own art collection, there are plenty of works still available for purchase. Or browse through the installation photos below to see what tickles your fancy!

Click through to view all available works from the exhibition.

Sunshine Coast Art Crawl

The week after installing my show I went back to Sechelt for three full days for the Sunshine Coast Art Crawl 2022. I set up a table and sold small artworks, cards, prints, and pins! I also had a table displaying my cross-stitch portrait commissions (which I’m still booking for 2023).

The most enjoyable and rewarding aspect of the entire experience was interacting with the other artists and the people that walked through the gallery during the crawl! I love talking to people about cross-stitch, it holds a special place in mine and many people’s hearts. It always seems to bring up all sorts of nostalgia and conversations about fibre arts.

On the Saturday, I gave my artist talk for the exhibition and as I was giving the talk I was reminded of my passion and love for art. All in all, the weekend was exactly what I needed to keep me inspired and driven to keep on making more! I can’t thank the Sunshine Coast Art Council enough for their support and for allowing me to participate in the crawl.

I was also featured in a newspaper article for the Coast Reporter, see below for photo and link.

Vancouver Cityscape (Work in Progress)

*(WIP) Vancouver Cityscape,* 2022, mixed textiles

During my fragmented spare time in between preparing for the show in Sechelt, I’ve still been working on my Vancouver Cityscape project, believe it or not! I finished adding the embroidery details around the yellow and green fabric squares. Then I trimmed the edges and created a border with some linen fabric. The border was done with a combination of machine and hand sewing. I also added a long colourful crochet chain inner border, which was machine sewed onto the piece.

I was a set back a few hours of labour when I tried adding some smaller crochet chains of yarn to the building sections. I had sewed about half of them on when I decided that it wasn’t working and used a seam ripper to remove them before it was too late. Considering this project is such a new process for me I’m surprised and happy that this is the only time this sort of set back has happened so far.

I had some raw edges poking through after I added the border so I added some embroidery details on the side to help cover those areas up and make it look intentional.

More photos below and more to come as I continue to working to complete this project by the end of the year!

First Saturday at City Centre (Nov. 5, 12-5pm)

First Saturday is a public monthly artist-run open-studio event.

Come visit artists where they work at City Centre Artist Lodge.

The following artist studios will be open:

Maxine Woogman - Studio # 32
Tracy Anne Northey - Studio # 34
Ilena Lee Cramer - Studio # 109
Elana Sigal - Studio # 110
Shelley Saltzman - Studio # 130
Lukas Lundberg - Studio # 208
Mallory Donen - Studio # 211
Denise Coles - Studio # 221
Devorah Peterson - Studio # 221
LeLe Chan - Studio # 231

Glitch Series 05 - Crop_1-9.jpg, 9.5x9.5 inches, embroidery floss, Aida cloth, 2020 — *Glitch Series 05 - Crop_1-9.jpg*, 9.5x9.5 inches, embroidery floss, Aida cloth, 2020

June 2020 - Update

June 02, 2020

Over the past month, I’ve been working on a variety of projects at once. I started off by stitching together the 9 pieces from Glitch Series 05 into a “quilt”. Overall, I’m very happy with how it turned out and was surprised that everything actually ended being pretty straight/even. The most satisfying thing about quilts is when you iron all the seams, they lay flat, and line up “seamlessly”, as though they were always meant to be stitched together.

(Back View) Glitch Series 05 - Crop_1-9.jpg — (Back View) *Glitch Series 05 - Crop_1-9.jpg*

Next, I stitched more loose ends I had lying around and added them to my ongoing project “Stitching Loose Ends”.

Stitching Loose Ends (progress shot), 2018-2020, embroidery floss, Aida cloth, 16 inches wide x 3 1/4 inches thick — *Stitching Loose Ends* (progress shot), 2018-2020, embroidery floss, Aida cloth, 16 inches wide x 3 1/4 inches thick

Stitching Loose Ends (back view), 2018-2020, embroidery floss, Aida cloth, 16 inches wide x 3 1/4 inches thick — *Stitching Loose Ends* (back view), 2018-2020, embroidery floss, Aida cloth, 16 inches wide x 3 1/4 inches thick

I’ve also been saving smaller odds and ends that are little less useable (for cross-stitching). But I recently had an idea to try and stitch these ends into a recycled handmade paper. I made the paper a fews years ago, while I was still at U of M and almost finished with my MFA. I’ve been experimenting with some free form stitching through the paper and the hardest part for me is the lack of control. Honestly, this doesn’t surprise me though, since I’m slightly obsessed with structure and control. The only way I can find some comfort in the process is to come up with my own rules or goals along the way. For example, I might have a goal to stitch 5x5 squares with cross-stitches. Even though I know it won’t come out like the precise grid that I’m use to stitching on with my other projects, at least I have something to work towards.

After torturing myself with free-form stitching, I couldn’t help but retreat back to my comfort zone. I started Glitch Series 06, but with a slightly different approach than the previous Glitch Series 01-05. This time I’m cross-stitching the full glitch image as a whole piece, instead of segmenting it into 9 different crops, as I usually do. The size/square count is based on the pixel dimensions of a computer screen, which is 1280x800, therefore, Glitch Series 06 will be 128x80 squares.

(Work in progress) Glitch Series 06 — (Work in progress) *Glitch Series 06*

At the end of the month, I pulled out a few skeins of yarn and decided to knit and add onto The Machine: Knitting Ouroboros.

I also started and completed two more hand-stitched paintings for the Paint by Numbers Series, Pattern G and Pattern H.

Pattern G (front view), 2020, acrylic, canvas, embroidery floss, 9.5 x 9.5 inches — *Pattern G* (front view), 2020, acrylic, canvas, embroidery floss, 9.5 x 9.5 inches

Pattern H (front view), 2020, acrylic, canvas, embroidery floss, 9.5 x 9.5 inches — *Pattern H* (front view), 2020, acrylic, canvas, embroidery floss, 9.5 x 9.5 inches

Pattern G (back view), 2020, acrylic, canvas, embroidery floss, 9.5 x 9.5 inches — *Pattern G* (back view), 2020, acrylic, canvas, embroidery floss, 9.5 x 9.5 inches

Pattern H (back view), 2020, acrylic, canvas, embroidery floss, 9.5 x 9.5 inches — *Pattern H* (back view), 2020, acrylic, canvas, embroidery floss, 9.5 x 9.5 inches

Last but not least, I’m currently showing two works from Glitch Series 01 as part of an online exhibition, Threaded II, Envision Art Show, running from June 1-30th. I’m also excited to share that I received an Honorable Mention, which means I’m the fourth artist featured at the beginning of the virtual exhibition. It’s a very strange time for all of us and it’s changing the way we make and view art. I’m glad that something positive has come out of this and I’m so thankful to be a part of an exhibition that showcases fibre artists from all around the world. Please take time to view the work at the link above (title of the show), there is some really amazing work to see and you don’t even need to leave your bed see it!

May 2020 - Update

May 03, 2020

I’ve been quarantined at home for 6 weeks now, due to Covid-19, but I’m still working remotely full-time. Over the past month, I’ve been working on another Glitch Series, Glitch Series 05. When I initially started Glitch Series 01 back in 2017, I had always thought that I would finish the series by stitching them together in quilt-like fashion. However, somewhere along the way, my thought process changed. Thus, I ended up presenting the work as a diptych, showing each digital and cross-stitched image in a double-window matted frame.

Glitch Series 01 - Crop_5.jpg, 16”x20”, archival inkjet print, embroidery floss, Aida cloth, 2017 — *Glitch Series 01 - Crop_5.jpg*, 16”x20”, archival inkjet print, embroidery floss, Aida cloth, 2017

In September, at the Vermont Studio Centre, I started a new body of work titled the Translation Series. Since then, I’ve been contemplating the final presentation of this work and I’m still unsure of how it will look in the end. I recently remembered the cross-stitch quilt idea I had for the Glitch Series and thought this could be the direction to take for this series.

Vermont Studio Center, September 2019 — *Vermont Studio Center*, September 2019

Therefore, I decided I would test this quilt idea with the latest Glitch Series 05, as a sort of maquette. I’m hoping that once I complete this “quilt”, I’ll see whether it is successful or not as a means of presentation for my cross-stitched work. This weekend I finished cross-stitching the 9th piece for Glitch Series 05. The next step will be figuring out how to stitch the grid together. I’m anticipating it will be a process of trial and error, but I’m excited to push myself to try something outside of my comfort zone.

(Work in progress) Glitch Series 05 , 2 1/8” x 2 1/8” (each), embroidery floss, Aida cloth, 2020 — (Work in progress) *Glitch Series 05* , 2 1/8” x 2 1/8” (each), embroidery floss, Aida cloth, 2020

Lastly, here’s another progress shot of Stitching Loose Ends. This is an ongoing piece where I’m cross-stitching loose threads that are leftover from other projects. I’m always looking for ways to reduce waste in my art practice, as well as everyday life.

Stitching Loose Ends (progress shot), 2018-2020, embroidery floss, Aida cloth, 16 inches wide x 2 5/8 inches thick — *Stitching Loose Ends* (progress shot), 2018-2020, embroidery floss, Aida cloth, 16 inches wide x 2 5/8 inches thick

October 2019 - Update

November 04, 2019

The month of October was spent adjusting back to real life with a full-time day job. I found I still had lots of motivation left over from the residency and I was able to get a solid amount of work done. I completed another cross-stitch in the Translation Series, a painting from the Paint by Numbers Series, added a couple rows to Stitching Loose Ends and submitted to several galleries for shows in the new year, as well as an artist residency in France.

Pattern D (front view), 2019, acrylic, canvas, embroidery floss, 9.5 x 9.5 inches — *Pattern D* (front view), 2019, acrylic, canvas, embroidery floss, 9.5 x 9.5 inches

Pattern D (back view), 2019, acrylic, canvas, embroidery floss, 9.5 x 9.5 inches — *Pattern D* (back view), 2019, acrylic, canvas, embroidery floss, 9.5 x 9.5 inches

Stitching Loose Ends, work in progress (2018-2019), embroidery floss, Aida cloth — *Stitching Loose Ends*, work in progress (2018-2019), embroidery floss, Aida cloth

I also started to work on an old photography project I started back in 2017 while I was finishing up my MFA in Winnipeg. The idea behind the project was to shoot roll of film with a list of pre-established camera-settings. Therefore, each frame had an assigned f-stop and shutter speed. This further expands my approach to creating art as a machine through a new medium, using analog photography. The photos from the project were all printed in the darkroom at U of M, but now I’m planning to assemble them into a handmade book.

Lately my weekend routine consists of running errands on Saturdays, doing household chores on Sundays, cross-stitching, Netflixing, and taking in the beautiful sun rays in my apartment.

Translation #4 - Cross-Stitch (detail), 2019, embroidery floss, Aida cloth, 6 x 6 inches — *Translation #4 - Cross-Stitch* (detail), 2019, embroidery floss, Aida cloth, 6 x 6 inches

Translation #4- Paint By Numbers, 2019, acrylic, canvas, embroidery floss, 4 x 4 inches and Translation #4 - Cross-Stitch, 2019, embroidery floss, Aida cloth, 6 x 6 inches — *Translation #4- Paint By Numbers,* 2019, acrylic, canvas, embroidery floss, 4 x 4 inches and *Translation #4 - Cross-Stitch*, 2019, embroidery floss, Aida cloth, 6 x 6 inches