Hand-cut Pattern Pieces:

Mixed media drawings and paintings on paper garment patterns.

Each of these pattern pieces I've cut by hand with the vintage tools of the apparel trade that I still have on hand, just as I did growing up working in the cutting room with my dad. There is a meditative process in doing this. I've always liked the unique, individual shapes of the patterns. As a child, I'd imagine they were different animals, like worms, or sharks, fish, plants and trees, or even cellular life.

The manila paper I work with is thick, a lot like the paper that's used as file folders. This is the type of paper that's used in making master patterns in the manufacturing industry for each style of garment.

After cutting a shape I like: a sleeve, a collar, a front facing of a shirt, I will make a drawing on the paper, and sometimes paint. The paper takes well to pencil, gouache, watercolor, and various inks.