Here’s the reality:
As one moves through a creative career, a lot of work is made and exhibited. Much of that work finds a home along the way, but some doesn’t. As one’s practice evolves, older work naturally tends to get sidelined in favor of newer pieces. Yet those older works never lose their value. They are markers of time and place and of processes that form the building blocks of an artistic journey.
Autumn Leaf on Wet Stones, detail ©2004 Elizabeth Fram
With that in mind, rather than holding a “flash-in-the-pan” sale in my search for new homes for older works, I’ve decided to do something different here at Eye of the Needle — a project that will encompass the whole summer. While I will continue to share peeks into what’s currently developing in my studio, I mainly plan to center the next 5 posts on revisiting and sharing the stories of select archival work. I will highlight 5 different pieces in each of those upcoming blog posts throughout the summer.
One Mossy Stone, detail ©2007 Elizabeth Fram
The five pieces highlighted in each post will be available in my web shop at a 20% discount for one week from the day each post is published (Thursday through the following Wednesday), starting June 27th. If you see something you like, don’t tarry as at the end of that week those particular pieces will revert to full price. However, a different 5 will be discussed and placed on sale in the next post — and so on throughout the summer, totaling 25 pieces overall. The last post of this project will be August 22nd, so the sale for the final five works will end on August 28, 2024.
Riffle, detail ©2005 Elizabeth Fram
Revisiting older work is a window to understanding how an artistic practice evolves. It’s been fun for me to see that these works haven’t lost their “oomph” with time. They were a proving ground for the development of a visual and technical language that I rely on today, while still maintaining their relevance.
Hindsight is 20/20, and as I’ve sorted through these pieces in anticipation of this project, it’s become apparent how interconnected my art has remained over the past decades, regardless of the differences that have surfaced through the exploration of new materials and processes. For example, despite evolving from a mostly abstract sphere into a figurative realm, subject matter that celebrates the ordinary and a continued reliance on hand-stitched embroidery has remained constant.
Sunlight on the Forest Floor, detail ©2004 Elizabeth Fram
I hope you will enjoy reading the backstory surrounding these pieces and that you will perhaps find a moment of connection between them and your own stories. I would be honored if, as an honored reader, you might consider snapping up one of these works at the sale price to add to your own collection.
That First Peony, detail ©2007 Elizabeth Fram
You can preview the first 5 works I will discuss in my next post (June 27th) in the Japanese Gardens section of my web shop; please come back in a couple of weeks when I’ll uncover their secrets. As is often the case, the thumbnail images on the Japanese Gardens page are automatically cropped into a square, obscuring a full view. If you check a work’s individual page you will see the work in full…or stay tuned for my next post where all the work will be displayed in detail.
As always, I am grateful for your interest and the time you choose to spend here with me. See you in two weeks!
I have been juggling this WIP alongside working through the many details of my upcoming Summer Stories Archival Sale. Each new step uncovers more questions and challenges regarding the direction I want to take with new work. I’m counting on figuring some of that out in the weeks ahead.
