Sadomasochistic Stitches

 Presenting.......Pit Bull advocate and artist Drucilla Pettibone!

Once upon a time, there was a talented, bright, eccentric, lovely and artistic young woman by the name of Jere Alexander.  She has dabbled at being a shelter manager, also in many broad studies in academia, a farmer, a spinner, and an artist.  At some time, she has rechristened herself and adopted a new artistic moniker, Lady Drucilla Pettibone. Very catchy!  She holds "Ragtime séances"....she certainly has a flair for spinning ambient names for her sewing circles! 

She's a quite the case study, and I have to admit, I admire her aesthetics and her industry, and I see the glimmer of a talented and brilliant person.   I do not however, admire the fact that she is a pit bull apologist, and find her actions, and some of the symbols she explores to be highly disturbing.

I wonder if this particular art piece was inspired by the "Sweet Pit Bull" that was shot by a police man after sending five children to the emergency room.....

 She wrote in her blog.....

"Hi there pit bull patriarchs,

I've been sorry to hear that some people are upset about my pit bull stitching because they say it glorifies dogfighting. Although it is hard for me to take that critique seriously, I certainly do not want it to be read it that way. For me, embroidering pit bulls does the work of mourning. It's a lot of stitching and I think about each dog and how they may have lived and died. It takes much longer to embroider a dog than it does to euthanize one. And as we know, they are being euth'd by the truckload in the US daily."

A bite is a most basic form of communication. I mean, dogs don't have hands, or English. What are they trying to say? I've seen dogs bite out of love. Extreme love, and the desire to be close, and to play. My dog bite embroidery is a series of linens that have been "altered" by Kaya, the artist, and then embroidered with phrases that I think she might be feeling while she's shredding my linens. 

Ah yes, the dogman's romance.  I wonder if she has rendered any doggie trysts of a Chihuahua and a German Shepherd on a doily, now wouldn't that be something to see!

 

This is possibly the dog.

Read more about this piece here.

After her animal control fiasco, Jere applied for a grant for her "Stitch 'Er Up: Dogfighting Embroidery" collection, which it appears she's a winner!

Here is a collection of more of her work.  She's an artist from the Andres Serrano and  Robert Mapplethorpe school, savvy to know what will set you apart from other artists is controversy and obscene subject matter.  Juxtapose a vintage doily with some dog fighting images, and you have the folk-art equivalent of a plastic crucifix submerged in a bottle of the artist's urine.   I quite frankly think this is desecration of our heritage, these lovely pieces created of the precious idle time by housewives of a by-gone age deserve more respect.

She claims that pit bulls are her favorite breed, but it appears she has recently upgraded to what appears to be a Wolf-Hybrid puppy.  Apparently, pit bulls do not have fur suitable for spinning into yarn. 

She wrote in her blog that she was inspired by a song  by Papa Roach, and she has in turned inspired me.  She has become my nutter goddess muse.

I tear my heart open

I sew myself shut

My weakness is

That I care too much.

and the Scars remind us
that the past is Real
I tear my heart open
just to feel.

I'm so inspired, I've decided to create some  art of my own!  This is a series based on her own work and inspiration......."Embroidered by pit bulls"

Raul Carrizales

Rhett

Amanda Hess and Marie-Helene Tokar

From the Funeral of John Paul Massey

Let me adapt her own thoughts into a  refrain:

For me, embroidering pit bull VICTIMS  does the work of mourning. It's a lot of stitching and I think about each dog-bite victim and how they may have lived and died. . It takes much longer to embroider a dog-bite victim  than it does to euthanize the dog that did the deed.  And as we know, they are being euth'd by the truckload in the US daily. And as we know, there are new pit bull victims daily.
 
A little stitch witchery superimposed on a found piece.  Is it ART?

 Read more about her, this woman fascinates me!