About This Site
Four hundred years ago, an embroidered tapestry was a rare thing. It still is. Feet halt, jaws drop, viewers immediately begin to imagine the number of hours required to make them. In the Middle Ages, they were constructed with commonly used skills. Now, in this age of extreme mechanization when even embroidery is computerized, intense handwork is an innovative approach. Observers have two basic questions -- "How?" and, I'm sure, "Why?" One spoken aloud and the other maybe not.
My name is Ruth Miller. In childhood, I developed a love of making art and doing needlework. Later, I combined the two and began to create embroidered art as an alternative to painting. Gradually, I leaned toward making portraits of actual individuals. This site exhibits the type of work I currently do and explains how and why I do it. I hope you enjoy it.
To make a purchase, leave a comment or contact me, please go to the contact page. To read about my journey in greater detail, continue reading below.
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Four hundred years ago, an embroidered tapestry was a rare thing. It still is. Feet halt, jaws drop, viewers immediately begin to imagine the number of hours required to make them. In the Middle Ages, they were constructed with commonly used skills. Now, in this age of extreme mechanization when even embroidery is computerized, intense handwork is an innovative approach. Observers have two basic questions -- "How?" and, I'm sure, "Why?" One spoken aloud and the other maybe not.
My name is Ruth Miller. In childhood, I developed a love of making art and doing needlework. Later, I combined the two and began to create embroidered art as an alternative to painting. Gradually, I leaned toward making portraits of actual individuals. This site exhibits the type of work I currently do and explains how and why I do it. I hope you enjoy it.
To make a purchase, leave a comment or contact me, please go to the contact page. To read about my journey in greater detail, continue reading below.
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An Artist's Life
Like many artists, I began to draw very early in life. Noticing my interest, my mother provided supplies and encouragement. With her support, I later attended The High School of Music and Art (now LaGuardia High School) and The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art. As an adult, I also attended The Fashion Institute of Technology where I studied leather working, shoemaking and bag-making - for the fun of it. I never attended art schools to acquire degrees or certifications because (1) I never imagined any financial reward and (2) I expected the art to speak for itself. Knowledge was its own reward, the prime mover, the source of delight. I also taught myself to work with seed beads that I used to make earrings for years and years. In my twenties, I made my first tapestry. Not valuing that first effort, I sold it to a friend for the price of the frame. Every few years or so, I'd make another stab at it but was too busy with life to work consistently.
For a long time, creating tapestries for my personal pleasure alone was sufficient. Eventually, I decided to not only sell my art but to define myself as an artist. This didn’t mean creating art for art’s sake or art for money’s sake either. To my mind, the artistic life is a perfect vehicle for measuring conscious personal transformation, a gateway to authentication: art for growth’s sake. Narrative concepts in the art shine a light on my interior development. Exhibiting and selling also make clear any resourcefulness, perseverance and social expertise (making the right connections, presenting myself and my art well) I may gain.
My Medium is Embroidery
Like many contemporary needle artists, if my embroideries extend edge-to-edge and have little or no visible unstitched background, I call them tapestries because of their resemblance to woven tapestries in which the image and fabric are created concurrently. Some of my embroideries appear to be drawings since large areas of the backing fabric remain visible when completed. I call those embroidered drawings. I like the succinctness of drawing; the fact that the “blank” areas are alive with suggestions of what isn’t made explicit. I also like the relative speed with which concepts take form on the surface. For these reasons, some of my embroideries never become tapestries.
Some artists use computers to design and stitch while some design and hire others to do the stitching. I compose the images based on drawings derived from photographs and work only with hand-held needles, doing all the stitching myself. I prefer life-sized figures even though they are more time-consuming to produce. This is because the large format accommodates a greater amount of detail and the texture of the wool doesn't overwhelm the characters and objects portrayed. In addition, I find I enjoy the manner in which large figures inhabit the room like companions.
The Importance of Beauty
Ugly and gross themes I leave to other artists who, as The New York TImes art critic Michael Kimmelman puts it, "mistake shock for awe." Neither do I consider bafflement of the public to be a measure of my intellectual depth. I aim to be understood. Beyond that, I want to enchant the observer into desiring to live with my art. Beauty is important and powerful: it has the power to uplift, stabilize and repair. For that reason, I strive to make each tapestry beautiful. When I find them beautiful, I begin to love them. Because I love them, I struggle to get each piece right: synchronizing theme, coloring and drafting. But beauty alone is not enough.
Truth and Light
In the darkness of difficult situations, enlightenment occurs when a person realizes what he or she hadn’t noticed before and that new thought resonates within as truth. This truth then lights a path out of the darkness. Often that darkness is merely the effect of limiting beliefs we hold. I like to examine beliefs we hold to be true for us but that, upon reflection, aren’t really so. Starting with my own fallacious beliefs, once I figured out what was really going on, I felt a great deal better. But the process of trial and error, though sure, is slow... and often painful. So, I thought, "If you discover any truths, why waste all that struggle on teaching a single person (myself)? Why not reach a larger audience with art?"
As the ancestors said, "Each one, teach one."
Like many artists, I began to draw very early in life. Noticing my interest, my mother provided supplies and encouragement. With her support, I later attended The High School of Music and Art (now LaGuardia High School) and The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art. As an adult, I also attended The Fashion Institute of Technology where I studied leather working, shoemaking and bag-making - for the fun of it. I never attended art schools to acquire degrees or certifications because (1) I never imagined any financial reward and (2) I expected the art to speak for itself. Knowledge was its own reward, the prime mover, the source of delight. I also taught myself to work with seed beads that I used to make earrings for years and years. In my twenties, I made my first tapestry. Not valuing that first effort, I sold it to a friend for the price of the frame. Every few years or so, I'd make another stab at it but was too busy with life to work consistently.
For a long time, creating tapestries for my personal pleasure alone was sufficient. Eventually, I decided to not only sell my art but to define myself as an artist. This didn’t mean creating art for art’s sake or art for money’s sake either. To my mind, the artistic life is a perfect vehicle for measuring conscious personal transformation, a gateway to authentication: art for growth’s sake. Narrative concepts in the art shine a light on my interior development. Exhibiting and selling also make clear any resourcefulness, perseverance and social expertise (making the right connections, presenting myself and my art well) I may gain.
My Medium is Embroidery
Like many contemporary needle artists, if my embroideries extend edge-to-edge and have little or no visible unstitched background, I call them tapestries because of their resemblance to woven tapestries in which the image and fabric are created concurrently. Some of my embroideries appear to be drawings since large areas of the backing fabric remain visible when completed. I call those embroidered drawings. I like the succinctness of drawing; the fact that the “blank” areas are alive with suggestions of what isn’t made explicit. I also like the relative speed with which concepts take form on the surface. For these reasons, some of my embroideries never become tapestries.
Some artists use computers to design and stitch while some design and hire others to do the stitching. I compose the images based on drawings derived from photographs and work only with hand-held needles, doing all the stitching myself. I prefer life-sized figures even though they are more time-consuming to produce. This is because the large format accommodates a greater amount of detail and the texture of the wool doesn't overwhelm the characters and objects portrayed. In addition, I find I enjoy the manner in which large figures inhabit the room like companions.
The Importance of Beauty
Ugly and gross themes I leave to other artists who, as The New York TImes art critic Michael Kimmelman puts it, "mistake shock for awe." Neither do I consider bafflement of the public to be a measure of my intellectual depth. I aim to be understood. Beyond that, I want to enchant the observer into desiring to live with my art. Beauty is important and powerful: it has the power to uplift, stabilize and repair. For that reason, I strive to make each tapestry beautiful. When I find them beautiful, I begin to love them. Because I love them, I struggle to get each piece right: synchronizing theme, coloring and drafting. But beauty alone is not enough.
Truth and Light
In the darkness of difficult situations, enlightenment occurs when a person realizes what he or she hadn’t noticed before and that new thought resonates within as truth. This truth then lights a path out of the darkness. Often that darkness is merely the effect of limiting beliefs we hold. I like to examine beliefs we hold to be true for us but that, upon reflection, aren’t really so. Starting with my own fallacious beliefs, once I figured out what was really going on, I felt a great deal better. But the process of trial and error, though sure, is slow... and often painful. So, I thought, "If you discover any truths, why waste all that struggle on teaching a single person (myself)? Why not reach a larger audience with art?"
As the ancestors said, "Each one, teach one."
Sometimes, I think of an aspect of my outlook I'd like to improve or understand better; then I search for models to act out the theme. Have you ever felt you knew exactly what action would fix a problematic situation but were reluctant to point it out? That's the subject of Unspoken Truths. Stitched in a path similar to a feedback loop, the text surrounding the figure reads: "Does the mouth dare reveal what the eyes have seen? Is there even an audience for it?" The logo on his shirt (visible in a larger view) reads: "Unspoken Truths: Way Too Heavy".
This is a mixed media embroidery: line-drawing (accomplished with sewing machine thread) combined with wool yarn "painting". Vivid color enhances the concepts of sharp sight and inhibited speech (signified by the eyewear and mask.) The lines in shades of gray provide a contrast for that drama.
This is a mixed media embroidery: line-drawing (accomplished with sewing machine thread) combined with wool yarn "painting". Vivid color enhances the concepts of sharp sight and inhibited speech (signified by the eyewear and mask.) The lines in shades of gray provide a contrast for that drama.