Name, Location, Occupation
Nathan Thomas Hanford, Becket, Massachusetts/Shoreditch, East London, Hand Embroiderer
Please describe your workspace:
My
workspace is a derelict summer music camp cabin in Becket
Massachusetts. I gutted it a few years ago and made it open plan and put
in seven foot tall schoolhouse style sash windows to let in more light.
It is currently a very rustic space, exposed woodwork, and no
plumbing... yet. I have the vintage linen I like to use in my stitchings
folded neatly in old chests of drawers and my silk floss kept in old
boxes given to me by my friend Crispina French. The cabin is on 13
acres of forest in the Berkshire Hills of Massachusetts. It is a basic
space... a space that will grow as I do. Every once in a while a red
squirrel will squeeze in through the roof and visit me while I stitch, a
large Great Horned Owl often sits in the tall white pines outside, I'm
constantly reminded that I am surrounded by nature.
What are you working on right now?
Currently
I am working on embroidered botanical images that merge into a
woodsman's tools. Stitched repetitions of basketball players and dancers
that merge together, and of course my ongoing portraits of my family
and friends.
What has been your most rewarding project to date?
Definitely
the collaboration "Noetic Corpus: Sojourn of the Soul" a work titled
"Alis volat propris" with Predrag Pajdic performed at WE*DO Gallery, Bangkok, Thailand and Wrong Weather in Porto, Portugal. There is also a book that has been produced of images by Predrag Pajdic.
Which designers and artists inspire you?
I'm mostly inspired by sound... I love music. It keeps my hands, fingers and arms moving as I stitch... like dancing.
I
have a dance background and it often inspires me in my embroideries. My
favourite company of all time is Inbal Pinto and of course there are
Papa Ted Shawn and Ruth St. Denis who founded Jacob's Pillow Dance
Festival which is in the town that I call home.
I
also love photographers Brock Elbank and Gregory Crewdson, Paintings by
Aaron Smith, Maggie Mailer, and the amazing Walton Ford, Nina
Katchdourian and Emil Rocky Fiore who work with spiderwebs, and Zachari
Logan's work is exquisite. Living in Shoreditch, East London it was hard
not to be inspired by those that surrounded me there; Sibling London,
Photographer Rebecca Thomas, Mia Wallenius and Klaus Haapaniemi, Jonathan Saunders, and Richard Nicoll who both inspired me as designers and as friends.
Has there been a defining moment or turning point when you realized what you wanted to do for a living?
When
I met the lovely Nancy Fitzpatrick while I was working at a coffee shop
in Lenox Massachusetts. She gave me a job that allowed every creative
part of me flow freely. For the first time in my life my creativity
mattered on a level that allowed me to thrive. Before I knew it I was
part of the team helping to renovate The Red Lion Inn in Stockbridge,
Massachusetts, Crawling through attics and barns searching for design
elements, and designing private parties to celebrate amazing artists
like Don Gummer and Huang Yong Ping through The Porches Inn and MASS
MoCA in North Adams Massachusetts. I will never be able to thank her
enough for being such an amazing inspiration to me to make my art and
keep being the creative soul that I am.
What do you think is the most difficult aspect of working in design?
Self doubt, always wondering if what you have to give is actually something that people will want, need, love, give and cherish.
If
I was making work that was disposable I would stop what I'm doing.
Embroidered pieces last for centuries. I need to always feel confident
that what I am leaving behind is actually the best work I can do.
What are you reading at the moment?
The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov, Trying Not To Blink by Eric Nixon, and always dipping into a beautiful antique copy of the Encyclopedia of Needlework by Therese de Dillmont gifted to me by my friends Matthew Larkin and Lainie Grant.
What websites do you visit for inspiration?
That's a hard one... I love to visit so many...
http://freecabinporn.com/
http://quincewithsugar.tumblr.com/
http://ffffound.com/
http://www.sethsmoot.com/
http://thepandorian.com/
http://pinterest.com/
http://theblackworkshop.tumblr.com/
http://browndresswithwhitedots.tumblr.com/
http://www.hungryghostfoodandtravel.com/
What are your simplest daily pleasures?
My
simplest daily pleasures? Well my days are brimming with simple
pleasures... spending time with my two Welsh whippets Rio and Roscoe,
responding to texts from my ten year old nieces, long walks in the
forest. I like to make lists from seed catalogs that I get and make
plans for future gardens, choose which types of chickens and quail I
might raise. I am currently tapping some of my maple trees to boil down
the sap into sweet maple syrup. I might even try my hand at moonshine
this year... shhhhh... don't tell.
Where do you see yourself in ten years?
In
ten years I will be happily settled here in Becket, Massachusetts. I
hope to have a total of 67 forest acres and cabins scattered throughout.
I want people with a focus on botanical illustration and others in
foraging culture to be able to come and visit so they can immerse
themselves in the place I grew up. I am also dabbling in making music at
the moment so who knows... anything can happen right?