Wednesday 16 January 2019

How Things Change or Evolve


Back in the Fall a new beginning was pinned to the wall
Lines of a container to be filled with stones
was drawn with paper.


Paper was changed to fabric
and I was thinking it might be called 'Stone Ground'.


I fell in love with this piece as I sat in the evening light 
couching stone upon stone within the shape of my container.

One evening I threw it on the floor beside my favourite stitching chair
just to check on how the stones were looking
And low and behold
I realized it was no container at all but an ancient cairn.


Blanket stitch was added to the base of the cairn
and then I took it to the design wall.


Loved it so much more as an ancient pile of stones
rather than a bowl full of them!
As I searched for the placement of the final rock shapes
I noticed a layer of smaller stones working it's way through the cairn.
Loved the thought that perhaps this layer represented
a different era or generation adding stones through the centuries.


So.... went back to the design wall
Added more to my imagined layer
Removed smaller stones inserted between the top layer of larger ones.
I love it even more!
Makes things more interesting.
Adds to the story.
And I am happy to allow the piece to create it's own story.

The conversation between our work and us is indeed a dance.


Monday 14 January 2019

And So Begins Another Year Another Piece


"Every New Beginning Comes From Some Other Beginning's End"
(Lucius Annaeus Seneca)



When my journey with 'Stone Pathways' came to an end
I was reluctant to let go
So the remnants of white backgrounds were stitched into strips
these were then filled with embroidered pebbles.
Remnants of the stones were sewn together in a rough fraying drunkard's path.
and pebbles embroidered immediately stitched all remnants together.

That was last year
But now a new year has begun
and so a home has been found for my remnants....
....more pathways!


There is so much white background surrounded by nothing but grey
So I have sprinkled bits of whiteness elsewhere.


Tiny dots are easier inserted with reverse appliqué
Larger ones with simple appliqué.
Perhaps tiptoes alongside heavy steps along life's pathway.


Frayed edges create a pathway of their own


Different paths, different lives.


Have no idea yet how I will stitch my new pathways
One step at a time
Next step will be to attach them to a background
and as I stitch them down by hand
ideas will come.


And here is a small beginning made many years ago
that hasn't found a home yet
but he will never be discarded
for
I love him!

Happy New Year
Happy Beginnings