Some of Stephen’s favorite pieces are the ones that use very unique up-cycling techniques. Often the process consists of utilizing what some would view as disposable materials. He takes the scraps and restores them to their once luxurious status by making them into art.  Each art piece begins with an up-cycled luxury bag, box, silk scarf or handbag. He then digitizes a custom embroidery design by hand, layering in each stitch individually. The boxes and bags are deconstructed, becoming the canvas for his creations. The embroidery then goes directly through his chosen medium and the visible texture begins to bring the piece to life. 

Most everyone is surprised when they visit the studio for the first time, believing it will be like a traditional artist’s studio with paints, easels, and traditional art supplies. The studio is large, taking up about 15,000 square feet and setup to create work using alot of traditional art techniques mixed with modern technology. Stephen uses 3D printers, laser cutters, commercial large format embroidery machines, yarn embroidery machines and laser cutting embroidery machines. When people see the amount of craftsmanship and steps involved in each piece they are always surprised and impressed.

The most common question Stephen gets is, “Where do you find all these boxes?” Luxury brand products come in beautifully crafted packaging, often discarded or stored away. Stephen repurposes these materials into art, carefully selecting each box or bag from sources worldwide—donations from clients and friends, auctions, estate sales, and more. All fabrics used are also luxury items, like scarves, clothing, or packaging. He spends time daily sourcing these unique materials for his work.

Some of the pieces are created with one box and others use multiple boxes that are cut up and collaged into a pattern. Most of the patterns in the collage are based on vintage quilt patterns. Stephen has worked in the quilting industry for many years and this is his way to pay homage to the many quilts he has designed. The boxes are cut into pieces and held together with adhesive to prepare for the next step making the background canvas complete and ready to be moved into the computer for digitizing. The image is scanned into the computer, squared off and edited so the size of the canvas precisely matches the piece.

Stephen brings the image of choice into his digital drafting system and hand traces all of the stitches using the image of the canvas as his guide. He masterfully engineers the stitches allowing beautiful patterns and designs to emerge as a decorative background for the final piece. Most of the small works have over 50,000 stitches while the large pieces can easily require 1,000,000 stitches or more.

The studio houses over 30 types of embroidery machines, including standard, laser-cutting, and yarn embroidery models. For each piece, a suitable machine is selected and prepped with thread and fabric. The thread is loaded, and the canvas is carefully secured with backing. Stitching can take up to 16 hours, depending on the design’s complexity. During this stage, appliqué fabrics and decorative elements like butterflies, flowers, and patches are also added.

Once the pieces come off of the the embroidery machine it is moved into finishing and meticulously hand trimmed. Each butterfly and embroidered element is hand trimmed with skill, patience and a very sharp pair of scissors. Each pom-pom is perfectly hand rolled using remnants of luxury scarves, ensuring every part of the luxury materials are used and not wasted. Every piece is full of amazing intricate detail. 

The final step in the process is decorating which entails mounting the butterflies, appliqués and other decorative objects to the piece. Each butterfly is mounted using industrial adhesive and molded into different wing angles to simulate flight. Stephen’s goal is that the butterflies look as though they landed right onto the piece of art. The appliqué elements are each mounted on top of laser cut acrylic to give a 3D effect, making them appear to pop off of the canvas