|
|
| Sewing in the Slammer |
| By ABCNews |
| Published: 11/04/2002 |
|
Sitting in his prison cell one day, Ray Materson became nostalgic. He thought about watching University of Michigan football and the way his grandmother loved to do her embroidery on the porch. Then Materson spied a pair of blue-and-gold socks drying in another inmate's cell. He bartered a pack of cigarettes for the socks, and asked one of the prison officers for a sewing needle. Soon, Materson had pulled loose the threads from the socks and embroidered a hat with the symbol of the University of Michigan, which was playing in the 1989 Rose Bowl. When he wore the hat to the prison lounge, the other guys thought it looked great. Soon fellow inmates were commissioning everything from Puerto Rican flags to baseball logos, and paying him in cigarettes. They didn't say much about his taking up what is usually considered a woman's hobby. 'Guys wanted stuff done, so they didn't comment much,' Materson, now 48 and out of prison, told Good Morning America. 'Many even asked to learn how to embroider.' Plus, they saw how many cigarettes he was earning with his handiwork, he said. Materson, a former cocaine addict, was serving time in a Connecticut state prison for armed robbery and kidnapping - crimes that he committed with a toy gun. To keep his hands busy, and his thoughts away from drugs and alcohol, Materson quickly developed his newfound skill, and began embroidering scenes that he envisioned from Shakespeare's works, and those that he remembered from Impressionist paintings he liked. While Materson was still in jail, a fellow inmate showed him an ad for a traveling folk art show and told him to submit his work. He couldn't take photos himself, so he had his sister pick some of his embroidery up and she submitted it to the show on his behalf. He sold several pieces. His sister's friend also liked his embroidery, and began writing to him, offering to help represent him at other arts-and-craft shows. They became friends, and a romance developed. The woman, Melanie, became his wife in 1993, and they had a child two months before his release in 1995. Now Materson is out of prison, and his work is exhibited at New York City's New Museum of Contemporary Art, where his miniatures fetch up to $4,000. He and his wife, chronicle his triumph over drugs and prison in his new book, Sins and Needles. Materson now works as a drug counselor. |
advertise
|
privacy policy
|
add URL
|
about us
|
terms/disclaimer
|
contact us
|
join our team
|
help
Comments:
No comments have been posted for this article.
Login to let us know what you think