I’m so excited to share with you our very first Guest Post from members of our community for our Favorite Handmade Item Column!! This one happens to be a pretty famous member of our community, actually, and we Love that Mike is such a supporter of the handmade movement. Let me introduce you to Mike Bridavsky, our guest for today!
Mike Bridavsky owns and operates Russian Recording, a professional recording studio, located in downtown Bloomington, IN. Russian Recording has been involved with many musicians including Murder By Death, Magnolia Electric Co, Entrance Band, Cave Singers, Maps and Atlases, Rangda, Phosphorescent, Damien Jurado, Sarah Silverman, Tig Notaro and Todd Glass. (And for a good 6 degrees of separation mention back to our Tales from a Shopkeep post – I lived in Collins with a few of the members of Murder By Death many moons ago as well). Russian Recording studio is also home to a few notable felines including Special Agent Dale Cooper, and Josie. And sometime, they get a visit from Lil Bub, because Mike happens to be the man behind the feline. Lil Bub likely doesn’t need an introduction, she speaks for herself on this world wide web. And who doesn’t Love Lil Bub?!
Without further ado….
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My name is Mike Bridavsky, and I have always had a deep fondness for handmade items. There is an undeniable palpable energy that is directly tied to every handmade item, and I truly believe that the more love that goes into it, the more potent is its magic. My home, my recording studio, and my entire life are all filled with handmade items, from microphones, to paintings, to guitars, to furniture, to blankets, to mugs, to letters. It’s hard to choose my absolute favorite, since every one has its own unique and special place in history and time, but one the most special ones is this unbelievable embroidery of my cat BUB, handmade by an extraordinarily talented artist in Sufffolk, by the name of Emillie Ferris.
In November of 2015, BUB fell off our couch and broke her elbow. The fracture happened on her joint, which required surgery. While the surgery itself was successful, there were complications with her anesthesia. Her throat was swollen shut, so she had to have a tracheostomy to breathe. During this time, she was at a high risk of instant death and under 24 hr emergency care. This was one of the most difficult and heart-wrenching days in recent memory. To help comfort me, my wife Stacy decided to give me my Christmas present early, and she surprised me with this embroidery. To be clear, this piece was not commissioned, it was made by Emillie independently, and we found out about it when we saw her post it on Instagram months earlier. It is obvious by looking at it that it was meticulously made with love in honor of BUB. The care that went into it is undeniable, and the detail is simply remarkable. This embroidery is full of magic, and it helped me get through a very difficult time, and in some way I think it helped BUB get through it as well.
