OPENING RECEPTION
David Poyant
AT THE COLLABORATIVE LAB
Thursday, March 6th from 6-8pm
508 Main Street, Warren
THREAD PAINTING
My name is David Poyant, and I didn’t follow the traditional path to becoming an artist. I am a cobbler by trade, with a background in shoe repair and handcrafted orthotics. I worked in the trade for 25 years and then completed my professional career in retail. Handcrafted artistry comes in many forms and provided me multiple pathways in work and art throughout my life. As I approached retirement, I pondered next steps. Always one to be working with my hands, I remembered my mother sitting in her chair knitting, cross stitching, and embroidering. She was always stitching something. Therefore, with no formal training, I picked up my needles, embroidery threads, and a stretcher at a hobby shop and started sewing. But what do I sew? I began by finding photographers who would allow me to embroider their work and I haven’t stopped stitching since then. Each thread-paint embroidery is hand stitched on artist canvas using both 1 and 2 strands of embroidery thread and can take up to 60 hours to complete.
I have neither a college degree, nor any experience in advanced art or stitching classes. However, I have always had an eye for design and many experiences in my 68 years of life that inspired me to develop my artwork. I was not shy about showing my thread-paint embroidery pieces to anyone interested while I worked in retail. Most of my thread painting pieces were landscapes, trees, and coastal scenes. While working, I met the director of the board at the Buttonwood Park Zoo in New Bedford, MA. She asked if I would be willing to do a thread painting of an animal for the fundraiser at the Zoo. The Red Panda was the first of what was to become a series of animals adorning the walls of the Zoo as well as other pieces used to support their fundraising efforts. This opened up other forums to display my pieces, such as fishing boats for the Fisherman’s Heritage Museum in New Bedford and donations for fundraisers in support of the American Cancer Society.
http://davidpoyantembroidery.com
