Ай красавчик )

Embroidered Portrait by Michael-Birch Pierce, MFA candidate in Fibers at Savannah College of Art and Design This is one in a series of free-motion embroidered portraits. All portraits are done from life, in one sitting, and are completely unplanned. No preliminary drawing or sketching, just an impulsive gesture drawing using the machine. My goal with these pieces is to find life in the machine. I am pushing it to its limits to break away from the tight, restricted, measured stitches that is indicative of machine embroidery. The result is long, loose lines with a hand drawn quality. The process provides an intermediary between me and my drawing, causing me to connect with the surface in a totally new way.