Dire Straits, Brothers in Arms

Embroidery stitched directly through a vinyl record sleeve. 

12x12x2 inches, framed in acrylic.

     Brothers in Arms was the album that brought Dire Straits international success in the mid 80’s. They had been around for around 10 years when this album was released and had a few hits and a lot of critical success but this is the album that made them a household name. I remember watching the video for “Money for Nothing” every day on MTV. It was one of the first videos that used computer animation. It is antiquated by today's standards but quite amazing when it was released. The album cover for Brothers in Arms featured a national steel guitar floating in the sky against a sky blue background with pink lettering. I started the piece by embroidering the background in tightly stitched rows of sky blue yarn. The yarn completely covers the background. I then used an abstract yarn stitch to create the sky and the clouds. The abstract yarn creates a nice constraint when placed against the orderly lines of the background. The lettering and border were embroidered in rayon thread on top of the yarn background. The guitar was created as a patch, stitched in multiple colors of metallic silver to mimic the metal national steel guitar.