My commissioned works are conceptually specific to the people that commission me. The artworks are tailored to fit in their homes, and are most fully understandable in the context of their personal lives.

In one case, I was commissioned by a couple. I based the piece on the fact that they were 12 years apart in age. I embroidered lists of twelves—a dozen eggs, a dozen roses, the months of the year, the twelve days of Christmas, and so forth—onto their existing household linens, and then replaced them in whatever space in the house they were normally kept—closets and cupboards, etc. So in the couple’s stack of napkins, for example, there is one that has an embroidered list on it. When they come to that napkin, they may decide to use it or just put it back in the stack.

The other commission I did was for a family home. A beautiful tree that was in their front yard and visible from the large window beside their dining table, died of waterlogged roots and had to be cut down.  I made a curtain for their window and embroidered an image of the lost tree on it, as well as some scattered information about trees’ tolerance to flooding. With the light shining through the window, the embroidery becomes a sort of transparent ghost tree, a visual memory.

My most recent work has focused on the fact and results of climate change in my own region/habitat, and I would be interested in working with that focus in these commissioned works as well, looking at whatever region the commissioners specify.