For this month’s Community Spotlight we sat down with Kay Stanis, internationally known fiber artist, designer, Master Craftsman, and Certified and Graduate Certified EGA Teacher. Kay is a juried member of EGA’s Fiber Forum and has taught at EGA’s National Seminars, and her current correspondence course, Jacobean Fantasy, is available as a GCC Lightning Round this season. We are fascinated by Kay’s approach to embroidery and design. Kay considers not just the viewer when she designs, but also the many perspectives the viewer can assume when engaging with designs from various positions.
What was your very first introduction to embroidery?
My very first embroidery was at my grandmother’s knee around the age of 10: a pillow slip and tea towels.
What drew you to silk and metal thread embroidery?
Flash! I’m a magpie. I love all shiny things. At the time, in my early 30s, I had a house full of children (4 boys) and doing anything artistic had to accommodate their care. Working with paint and similar art materials was not in the cards, so silk thread and glittery elements called to me.
I have always been an enthusiast. When I deem something worthy of my attention, there are no holds barred. The decision of embroidery as my basic medium is very calculated in my work. In our world today, it is associated with women’s work. I use that concept and broaden what and how it is perceived. In the pursuit of excellence in embroidery, I learned many kinds but settled on silk and metal for the most part—that was and is my medium of expression. I have often crossed the borders to mixed media and incorporated metal wire and sheeting, paint, paper, torn fabric, and many threads not usually associated with embroidery, let alone silk and metal.
I work with gold and glitter to catch the eye and add dimension to the work. Gold also represents what society holds precious or considers worthy. Combined with embroidery, it challenges preconceived ideas of value and social structure.
Where do you find inspiration for designs?
My work is divided into two areas: what I call personal and teaching. For over 20 years, I was a member of EGA’s Fiber Forum and approached that personal area by combining ideas of reflection, the transparent, and the hidden. I work to create absorbing, intricate, sensual surfaces that are ever-changing in relation to the viewer.
I work in multi-surfaced layers and very three-dimensionally. I like the work to float in space and shapes and surfaces to shift as perspective literally and figuratively changes to bring new ideas and insight. No one’s view is the same. To accomplish this, I often use sheer fabrics with no distinct edges. Many pieces are worked double-sided, having different aspects of the same image on either side.
Shapes are condensed down to simple lines and then translated to add dimension.
The viewer is part of all my work. They are the interpreters: I bring my ideas, they bring theirs, and together new associations can be realized. Hopefully, it challenges them to new ways of thinking or seeing.
For the teaching pieces, I design considering the venue, the student level, and the subject. Historic design is often an inspiration, but I like to bring them into the 21st century. Asian art, particularly Japanese design, has also been a focus in my teaching pieces.
How do you approach a new design? What does your design process look like?
I do a lot of word associations relating ideas in common and uncommon ways. I use the internet to begin thoughts about the subject and I also sketch out ideas over and over until I’m satisfied. This starts the process but eventually the work takes over and I follow along trying to keep it focused but allowing the piece to talk to me as I work.
I use Adobe Illustrator as I start to finalize a design and for class work development. Shapes are condensed down to simple lines and then translated to add dimension. I usually try to come up with three different versions of the project and then choose the one that most appeals to me. Illustrator is great for defining drawings for the students and the text of the class.
Most of my current work, personal and teaching, has raised and/or suspended elements and I continually think of ways to add dimensionality to the piece as I stitch.
Your correspondence course, Jacobean Fantasy with Kay Stanis, is currently available to EGA members as a Lightning Round course through May 31. What should interested embroidery students know about this course?
This is an Intermediate to Advanced class so you should have some experience in working with silk and metal materials.
The design is a new interpretation of seventeenth century motifs and blending them with the silk and metal of the twenty-first century. The students will create an exquisite floral on silk fabric with detached sheer fabric.
Techniques include working Battlement couching, Burden stitch, chipping and “S”ing. Soft twist silks in solid and overdyes will be combined with braids, crimped purl, check purl, and pearl purl. For dimensional effects we will work the detached elements separately on sheer fabric in the creation of this exquisite embroidery.
I am always hopeful that students use their own creativity for ideas in color and stitch interpretations.
If I am just starting to embroider and feel drawn to silk & metal embroidery, where should I start my journey? Are there any particular designs, classes, or resources that you recommend for beginners?
EGA has great courses online on silk & metal thread embroidery and in-person seminars. Mary Corbet of Needle ‘n Thread offers a variety of silk and metal stitch samples. The Royal School of Needlework also has online classes.
You can always find bits and pieces on youtube. Watching professionals from around the world work is very instructive. I wish that it existed when I started: I literally went around the world to see it in-person. The books of the day were not exactly accurate.
Do you have any favorite tools you can’t live without?
Laying tool: I use it to poke and prod all my threads, not just lay them.
Do you have a favorite embroidery design or embroidery creation? Why is it your favorite?
My personal favorite is Wind Shadow. Here is the Wind Shadow Artist Statement:
“By combining ideas of reflection, the transparent, and the hidden, I work to create absorbing, intricate, sensual surfaces that are ever changing in relation to the viewer. By contrasting organic and inorganic materials and shapes the search for each reality goes on.
“My present work reflects recently becoming a pilot that has affected every part of my life. It is a passion that seeks its own quenching. Like art its discipline requires a tremendous amount of time and proficiency leaving me caught between many worlds. A passage through a subtly changing infinite vista of sky is always in concert with the wind.
“The wind leaves a unique pool of energy that affects its surroundings directly and with its deflection. This piece, as in life, reflects the influence of light and shadow that can be subtle or volatile on our path/flight. It leaves indications of a journey as it shifts through time.”
Main Background: Black silk noil; Embellishing fabric/paper: Commercial paper, Silk/metallic fabric, come over card, Metallic foil kidskin; Stitches used on ground: Appliqué, Couching, some coiled couching; Fibers used on ground: #4 Japanese golds – Dull gold, Honey Gold, Light Gold; Sheet metal strips: Copper, brass, and aluminum; #2 Japanese Twist; Silk sewing thread
Do you have a favorite piece of advice for embroiderers?
Embroidery is process-oriented. The time spent influences the outcome. Even in the doing, the materials take on a life of their own.
Exploring creativity is an ongoing challenge. How to “look,” how things are perceived, how do they affect your perspective. I enjoy this and invite the stitcher to participate visually and intellectually.
The viewer should be part of all our work. They are the interpreters: I bring my ideas, they bring theirs, and together new associations can be realized. Hopefully, it challenges them to new ways of thinking, seeing, and stitching.
Are you working on any classes or events we should know about?
I will be teaching at The American Needlepoint Guild Seminars: 2025, New Orleans and 2026, Denver.
I teach Japanese Embroidery in several locations each year: Spokane, WA, in March and Minneapolis, MN, in May and September.
Where should interested stitchers go to learn more about you?
My website is The Gilded Edge and I have a book, Techniques of Metal Thread Embroidery. You can also find me on Facebook at Kay Stanis however, I’ve stopped paying much attention to it.
