My Tears Series: Strong Women Who Prevailed

#110 - Frida Kahla: Survived and Thrived (2023, multi-media Improvisational embroidery)

As a 30-year arts educator, Frida Kahla has often been the subject of my academic exploration. Her art, fashion sense, interior design, her need for beauty and tranquility around her, and  her words were all shaped and formed through the tragedies of her life and the tears that I know must have been shed during her various life's challenges.

Pandemic Stories: Inside Outside

#100 - COVID Cock Story Coat (2021, multi-media including needle felting, improvisational embroidery, beading, painting)

I have always been drawn to peacocks for their magnificent colors and regality. I've displayed various peacock art In my classrooms and home - some of which I created and some which was gifted to me or purchased. During the pandemic, I taught a university fibers course and I decided to make course projects alongside my students In an effort to inspire them during a time period of history that was not especially inspiring. The outside of this duster jacket represented the me that I showed my students and the public during the pandemic.  The inside reflected my private thoughts. 

I come from a huge family of people who sewed for creative need and life's necessity.  

- Dr. Trina Harlow

Pandemic Stories: Inside Outside

#101 - COVID Cerebrations Story Hood (2021, multi-media needle felting including improvisational embroidery, beading, painting)

For many years, I have worked with folk artists from around the world - through my university work and through a volunteer position that I held for several years as the educational outreach director for the International Folk Art Alliance in Santa Fe, New Mexico. I have also always loved to surround myself with bold and bright colors. A hood is something that protects us from the elements, yet It can also hide us. I asked my university fibers students to make a felted hood for one of their projects and I made this piece along side of them. On the outside, this piece shows the me that I showed my students and those around me during the pandemic - bright, colorful, energetic, fluid.  The inside represents my private thoughts - words that boldly lived within my cerebrations. 

Pandemic Stories: Inside Outside

#102 - COVID Story Square (2020, multi-media including improvisational embroidery, beading, digital photo transfer)

Much of my research during the last ten years has focused on the relationship betwen art and anxiety. About ten years ago, I became fascinated with slow stitching and improvisational embroidery. This story square uses a unique method of digital photo transfer on fabric and improvisational embroidery to convey story. The front shows the attitudes that I projected to my students and colleagues during the pandemic. The back depicts me wearing the pandemic social distancing mask and my more personal thoughts about the pandemic. 

Just Where It Series: Wear It Boldly

#120 - I Am Therefore I Create (2020, multi-media Including improvisational embroidery, beading, and painting)

Just Where It Series: Wear It Boldly

#121 - Clothed in Intelligence (2024), multi-media Including improvisational embroidery, beading, and painting) (In progress)