Where does the time go? The last photo I put here is the complete embroidery roll I did a while back, as a challenge with an embroidery group I meet with. It was decided that we should each take a roll of fabric and do some stitch practice on it . I being the rebel that I am couldn’t commit myself to practicing or keeping track of new stitches so I chose to look at this project as a doodle practice using stitch. so I drew and stitched or simply stitched randomly in a wiggling line or collaged some wee bits of fabric onto the linen then stitch embellished that. It was great fun to just have something to hand to pick up whenever I had a few minutes to sew. it is not a pristine finished project, rather a slow stitch scrap became something in its own right.Oh and the linen was a pair of my husbands pants that I cut up after he ,of course, wore some holes in places… and that made it soft and pliable to sew .
Jan 10
and now it is November...
I have been embroidering more than I used to. The fascination of different threads is all consuming. And, I have a small group of people who also embroider. It is interesting how when one has a group of friends who appreciate the same things you do how much more you work to make interesting pieces. This same group of people agree to try certain studies… most people call them samples but That word sends me fleeing… so I call them studies. This particular challenge was to embroider a word. It could be the word itself or the idea behind the word or…. if you wanted to do, whateve,r as long as it was around a word… hey that’s OK! My kind of challenge absolutely.
I decided I would embroider the word. I found a scrap of fabric and did the work. I read that when one wants to do a design one should try 25 different suggestions, otherwise you may be falling into the desgin that is the easiest or the most common iteration . I didn’t do 25 … but I did draw several designs and this is the one I chose to sew. Can you see the word, or does my poet brain obscure how I see.
cheers
End of October
It’s been a wonderful fall here, but today we had the first dusting of snow and freezing rain . The leaves are mostly gone but this bush at the corner of my house was a bright spot in the light.
I have been embroidering a piece for a few weeks now that is mostly orange. Many of the same shades here. Pictures to come soon.
august
Back in January I hinted that there was a piece of work that I was finishing but was not yet ready to share.
it is finished and I hope you enjoy looking.
This is a photo I abstracted in photoshop and then hand stitched it onto a piece of linen. I used rayon thread and the shape developed naturally as the stitching got more intense.It took me a whole year to do but I enjoyed every moment.
I named it stream!
May30
Months ago I did some collages and I have been playing around with crops, to see if some parts are more appealing than others. Now I’m thinking I may try and print these on fabric to add stitching to see where that might take the piece. Here’s a crop to start, and perhaps it will come with me on a trip both figuratively and literally to see what might happen.
feb 1
It has been quite hard to get motivated to do work this past month. Whether it is the pandemic, still, or the rest that I usually desire after the holidays, or just a block is hard to tell. But I really want to resume my mixed media online course, and yet I have been procrastinating. I have always had trouble with the idea that I should make small pieces as samples that I can use then to make bigger work. Perhaps the reason for this is my dislike of doing things twice. Part of me doesn’t want all the clutter of wee pieces that have no purpose other than experimentation. But with this course I have done a number of smaller pieces to practice the techniques. I painted some mini abstracts months ago and put them away over the holidays just because… but this past week I got them out again in an attempt to get going.
I have recently begun to read, A Primer of Visual Literacy by Donis A Dondis . I always seem to read when I’m having trouble doing. It seems to clear my mind . Somehow I usually find a book that helps me understand more about this art making process, at the very least, and at the very best it clears up the issue that seems to have me stymied. I’m not quite sure where this one is leading but it is encouraging me to look at the work I have done and see if it speaks.
The three little square ones, the top and the two on the bottom,were the first I tried, I find them quite interesting, what they might be saying …. “Well?” The three pieces in the middle were cut from other small pieces. These ones I looked at with a frame to find the most pleasing parts as I felt the wholes were less than interesting. I’m wondering if these will become wee cards on their own or if they will be added to other larger collages that decide to make themselves known.
These four are definitely a series, I like that the colours and shapes find themselves in each one
At the moment I am feeling uncertain about whether any of them are more than exercises, even if I like them. And where to go from here is the big question?
I’d love to hear any reactions from readers. Do you see something? Do you feel they speak of something or is the fact that the intention was to experiment, to learn about media and composition, all that is coming through.
Does an artist have to have a specified intention before an abstract can accomplish more than just splash?
hmm, I may have to get further into some books!
