Scratching Out 2014

The last days of 2014

like the tides of time!

I've been stitching pebbles onto canvas

for a couple of paintings I have to do.

This year's Christmas Eve stocking is pinkish

in honour of Ashley Rose

who suddenly discovered she could string noises together

and converse with us over Face Time!

Brett arrived for a few days rest in our woods.

I always seem to do a Christmas Day star.

This one is dancing.

Some of my mother's paper piecing 

for this family time of the year.

Brett left after what must have been a very quiet week for a city boy!

And so another year of scratching comes to an end.

That is three years now.

The Night Before Christmas

I hope all your stockings are hung by the chimney with care.

Homeward Bound

Chugging back up the Basin

Coming home after a night's fishing.

Leaving their night's safe place

and on the lookout for breakfast

they paddled away from 

my dangerous Rusty Pups

diving intermittently as they went.

Mmmm....think I'll go home for my own breakfast.

Stitching Paths on Scraps Full of Memories

Is it not amazing

how a tiny scrap of forgotten cloth 

rediscovered

can evoke memories of times gone by.

So this week the scraps from the studio floor

had me thinking of times gone by

of stitches as footprints

of paths

sometimes running parallel

and sometimes crossing.

Rusty Pups

Our constant companions

Devoted to us as we are devoted to them

Exercisers

Feet warmers in the winter months

Face lickers

One Expert catcher of tennis balls

One expert at scratching her back on grass and snow

Guardians of our woods

Squirrel chasers...actually chasers of anything that moves

Barking announcers of visitors

Mud seekers

Source of serious dust bunnies in this house

Creators of dirty nose prints on clean windows

and much much more

So grateful am I

Daily Routines

We walk down the Basin in the early morning light

until I say it is time to turn around and go home.

As soon as we turn

The Rusty Pups routine is to start playing

some kind of game of ambush.

One has to try and get past the other.

but it usually ends in a mighty clash

of mouths and wagging tails.

As we approach Annapolis Royal

the RP's energy has usually waned

and if it is around eight oclock

I know the Tai Chi group will be gathering

way over to the left on the jetty

for their early morning routine.

Scratching Studio Debris

Perhaps my biological clock has gone awry

I am still sorting and resorting the studio

Isn't that what we do in Spring.

The energy is building up

towards a brand new year

My stash still holds scraps of childhood memories.

Even the drawers full of threads are being reorganized.

One scrap became a Christmassy tree.

Collections

The windowsills in the studio

are usually full of bowls that are full of bits and pieces.

 All that will be left on the windowsills for 2015

are small collections

of bits and pieces from my woods

or from the shore...

....sometimes from foreign shores.

Just natural bits and pieces I have picked up over the years.

Admittedly some are man-made

but they have spent a long time in the elements.

December Scratchings

Another year is coming to an end soon

Oh my goodness me

The rusty pups and I were treated to a

a dancing cloud of birds swirling around us

on our Monday morning walk.

To our surprise

on Tuesday we disturbed a heron

what is he doing still here in the wintry north?

Later that morning I went off to

Tai Chi.

This week I am preparing the studio for a new year.

Every scrap and every thread

is being checked.

If it doesn't fit into my plans for a new series in 2015

it is being packed up and stored.

I want to focus and reduce my chances of distractions.

Even as I handle each piece of cloth

I am sorely tempted to stop sorting and start working.

For us tactile people

it should be no surprise that a simple scrap of cotton or silk or wool

can get our creative juices flowing.

As I pick up bits and piece of cloth I remember how certain pieces

have actually influenced my development as an artist.

It is not easy to pack those away.

Still sorting out the studio

but wrapping Christmas parcels took precedence on Saturday.

Still sorting

but after the RP's and I walked the slushy, icy mountain.

The textures in this week's scratchings are wonderful.

Three layers of heavily stitched scraps from the studio cleanup

are a pleasure to touch.

I am excited at the clearing of the studio.

Just holding onto what I plan to work with next year.

As I clean

ideas and plans for new work

are becoming clearer.

There is Always Something That Inspires on Those Morning Walks

The grasses are slipping into Winter hibernation

Waves of autumnal colour

warm the cooling landscape.

Some grasses have been flattened by the rains

Others still manage to stand tall.

A grassy piece is on my to do list

in the studio.

Klee Inspired Scratchings

Another Paul Klee drawing

inspired my scratchings

for last week

Thank goodness things are turning back to normal

and perhaps 

my scratchings will too!

Imitation Scratchings

Do you know the drawings of Paul Klee?

Since I've been laid up at home

I've been dipping into his diaries

Last time we got together

Judy told me I would find him interesting

and I do.