Strands to Stitches

Let me introduce you to Ithaca fiber artist Saundra Goodman. Her colorful crochet creations are currently on a show in State of the Art Gallery in Ithaca.

I first noticed these three pieces through the window and from afar the first thought was - are they quilts? When I looked closer, I could see very fine crochet stitches.

Then there are these sculptural pieces.

On Saturday February 15th I went to Artists talk. I was curious to learn about Saundra's practice. 

Since she was a child she was fascinated by knitting and crochet because that was a way to create something tactile.

In Saundra's hands strands become her palette and she is creating her own colors by combining these various strands.

These two pieces originally were like the previous one but then Goodman decided to make something more interesting and she cut them to create quilt like pattern. Cutting crochet work? That is really something brave! Even after Saundra explained me how she did it I don't know if I will ever try to do it with my pieces.

Currently Saundra is experimenting with stitches what she calls vertical crochet - she created this technique to be able to make more three-dimensional works and have more adventures with crochet.

Saundra Goodman was born in New York City. Soft spoken and very kind, it is hard to believe that she is a former Woman Marine who served in Vietnam War. She holds a degree in psychology from University of North Florida, studied drawing and painting in School of Visual Arts in NYC. You can learn more about her work from her website https://www.strandstostitches.com/