IN THE STUDIO - WINTER UPDATE

Coming Out of the Darkness
Katie Berman, 2021.

Hey, friends! It’s been a bit since my last blog post. If I may be so vulnerable, winter was roooof stoooof (“rough stuff” in Happy Endings speak) and I was having a tough time staying motivated and excited about sharing new things in this space. Thankfully, spring has sprung and I’m taking the time to give some love to my blog once again!

One thing that I’d like to start doing in this blogosphere is share a quick update about what’s going on in the studio each season. Themes in my work tend to last for a number of months and doing an update on that seems a bit more doable than sharing a post for every new work I create. So welcome to the first “In the Studio” update of 2021— Winter Edition!

The winter season of 2020/2021 pushed me into some new creative spaces. It was as if something in me snapped and bright life needed to escape. Out flowed crazy color combos that I had once avoided, new ambiguous shapes outside of my standard sizes and a lot more time spent on building up color by hand with flat stitch detail.

Visions, detail.
Katie Berman, 2021

Joy Dreams, side view.
Katie Berman, 2021.

I realized I love color! I wanted to infuse more vibrancy and playfulness into my work. It’s what I love and if you don’t make work that you love then what’s the point, right?! Using new colors like these also speaks to the themes in my work of revealing surprising depths beneath. It’s been such a joy delving into this body of work!

Coming Out of the Darkness, detail.
Katie Berman, 2021.

2021 will see me pursuing this theme and style. By creating more flat texture by hand with my Oxford punch needles versus predominantly looped texture with my tufting gun, I’m able to spend more time with my pieces and allow them to lead me through the creation process in a less hurried way. What fun!

Onward and upward to hopeful things, my friends!
— KB