Purse exhibit offers ‘wearable art’

How to go

What: Pursnicketies exhibit

When: 6 p.m. reception today, May 14, runs through June 4

Where: Oxford Community Arts Center, 10 S. College Ave., Oxford, (513) 524-8506

Cost: Admission free

OXFORD — When it comes to purses, Carole Kuhn has got them covered — with knitting.

The Hamilton woman will open her exhibit “Pursnicketies” with a reception at 6 p.m. today, May 14, at the Oxford Community Arts Center, 10 S. College Ave. The exhibit runs through June 4.

After retiring as a foreign language teacher from Fairfield City Schools in 1992, “I started knitting many, many, many garments. After I had 40 to 50, I said, ‘Hey, I need to do something else,’ ” said Kuhn.

That something else turned out to be modular knitting, which involved making shapes like pinwheels and triangles and putting them together. Kuhn worked on submissions for a magazine called InKnitters. When that publication folded, Kuhn turned her attention to making purses — except they didn’t turn out so well at first.

“The purses were flimsy. I’m not a sewer, and I didn’t like the overall appearance,” she said. Therefore, Kuhn decided to combine the two approaches by putting her knitting around an existing purse.

“It’s like a cocoon to a purse,” she said.

Using bright, vivid yarn, Kuhn concentrates on making the “cocoons” colorful.

“The sequence of how they blend together is beautiful,” she said.

Kuhn has made 60 purses, 32 of which are on display in the exhibit.

“You have to look at the guide stitches of the purse and do it with persnickety care,” Kuhn said, explaining the name of her exhibit. “You want to make it appear as though it was done in a factory. It’s not crafting, it’s wearable art.”

The purses in the exhibit are for sale, with a price range of $70 to $235. Most purses average about $160, she said.

Kuhn said she hopes to expose more people to her art by offering classes in modular knitting and in purse design, she said. Her work also is available for viewing or purchase at the website www.shop.pursnicketies.com.

Contact this reporter at (513) 705-2836 or erobinette@coxohio.com.