A friendly crow has strutted onto
a piece of wool blanket
that recently spent a few days wrapped around tree bark and tea bags.
He is in the process of telling me his story.
As far as I can tell
he has wandered under a huge chestnut tree
and someone is showering him with
horse chestnuts (conkers to some of us).
This will be for a show on spoonerisms.
The original phrase is "crushing blow"
which as a spoonerism is "blushing crow".
At the moment I'm dressing him.
The spirals and reddish thread were a surprise...
but he's supposed to be blushing and
perhaps he has some Celtic blood in him.
The background will be covered in stitches that haven't identified themselves yet.
I'm working out how to make the teabag stains
look like conkers.
At least one of the conkers will be a spiral to match the handsome fellah.
Don't want to be too literal.
Right now I have to sit back
and listen to what the cloth wants done next.
This is going to be fun!
Penny your stitcheries are wonderful and I especially love your crow....'blushing crow'.
ReplyDeleteSpoonerism, I had never heard of that before. Love learning something new.
I am keen to follow your progress on this piece.
Jacky xox
Wonderful to see how your creative process works. Am looking forward to following the progress of this piece.
ReplyDeleteYou are too funny!! Poor crow, the "conkers" really hurt!! I know because as a child, I remember sitting in a tree, throwing them down at my younger brother and his friends. I think my mother grounded me for quite a while after that prank! LOL! BTW, spirals are as natural to you as air, so it's no wonder the crow will be blushingly covered with them.
ReplyDeleteits coming along so nicely...I enjoy seeing the creative process.
ReplyDeleteThe Celtic blushing crow is a delight. And I'm glad to know someone else's embroidery talks to them...
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely fabulous!
ReplyDeletegreat background and you always know just how to fill it. great.
ReplyDeleteyour fair corbie is blushing as we admire him :)looking forward to seeing this one develop!
ReplyDeleteYour story is just as wonderful as the art! Thanks for the swelling of my heart.
ReplyDeleteannie!
I'm in love with the crow cloth - crows and spirals, not a surprise I would be spirited away with this!
ReplyDeleteAnd I love the spoonerism as well. My word verification word is "burflyi".... I imagine its to do with your cloth... cause if conkers weren't flying at the crow, maybe burrs would be?
Brilliant. I love spoonerisms. I also love the way you post the whole process so that we can see how the cloth grows. A crushing blow will never be quite the same again, so thank you for that!
ReplyDeleteLove this Spoonerism...love this crow piece. It's funny, but crows have always been annoying to me, even now they can be so loud as to wake me from my slumber! But seeing the represented with such caring on so many stitching blogs is slowly changing my mind!
ReplyDeleteWonderful book you may enjoy..."Crow and Weasel" by Barry Lopez.
http://www.amazon.com/Crow-Weasel-Barry-Lopez/dp/B003MAJNI0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1310671031&sr=8-1
Love the crow! So playful...
ReplyDeleteThe stitched spirals on Crow are beautiful! I look forward to hearing more of its story.
ReplyDeleteCreating is a process and each one of us approaches it in our own unique way. I think I am happiest when the cloth talks loud and tells me what to do! Perhaps I just take direction well.
ReplyDeleteI'm hoping Anne Marie's little brother got his revenge!
And I'm smiling because I think Valerianna would like anything with a spiral on it!
i think i remember the conkers had little spikes on them so your stitching seems right to me. Love the crow and his spirals, tho i think i'd call him a raven if he was down here.
ReplyDeleteHmmmm - are you sure your crow isn't a magpie? He's a most handsome fellow anyway!
ReplyDelete