Monday 25 June 2018

New Beginnings Times Three


As Stone Pathways and Daily Scratchings rest along one side of the table
awaiting installation at the Mary E Black gallery in July...


...In the little table space left I'm working on new beginnings.
More stones
It seems I am not through with stones yet.
I must have more to discover about them.


Another large piece of silk and linen
has been layered onto felted wool.
I believe this will be tree-like lines of stitch
growing out of.....stones.


And a third new beginning of silk on linen
has been layered onto a thin damask.
Don't yet know how I will treat this one.
I love that piece of natural dyed silk.
It was soaking in my stream so long that it has a few small frayed
holes that I might emphasize or do a little darning over.
The grey linen will of be stitched all over
but have to decide on whether to continue the markings from the silk
onto the linen
or whether I just stitch a simple repetitive mark.


A little bit of green and grey and red.
I have a thing about red flowers nowadays.
Perhaps a little bit of red will start appearing in my work.
You never know
It might be necessary one of these days.

I hope that if you love red...
...or even if you don't love it....
...that you will find a place for it in your studio today!

Monday 18 June 2018

Touching Life


Touch
for me
is most important.
It connects me to my work
more so than seeing it displayed on a wall.
Touch is memory.
Touch is healing.


In preparing for a show I have to
think of the visual too.
Remind myself that presentation is important.
So, for that reason I am stitching galvanized nails
to the bottom of my long narrow paths.
I am thinking the weight will keep them hanging nicely.


As I stitch I spy a precious rock that I have carried with me for years.
A talisman of sorts
A tactile memory of a difficult time in my life.
Strangely enough I hadn't thought of including it 
as one of my stones for 'Stone Pathways'.


As I stitch I am also musing on what
the next daily stitching journal will be.
Perhaps
drawing outlines of important things
like my tiny piece of whittling
done on the shores of Georgian Bay
when my three boys were oh so young.


Perhaps these would be a part of a project like that.
Small bits and pieces from my life
that are always with me
kept safely in a pouch.
We shall see.

I hope you have a collection of talismans from your life
that might inspire.
Sometimes we ignore the things we see or touch every day.

Monday 4 June 2018

Butterflies


Daily Scratchings
was a large part of my life for four years.
Recording time passing
Stitching every day.


It will be shown it in it's entirety for the first time this summer,
all 200 feet of it.
I am working on it at the moment
checking it out and adding tabs for the first day of each month.
Sometimes adding to the writing on the back
where I had written about special days and thoughts.
I hope you can visualize the
difficulty I am having in controlling a 200 foot 'snake' on the tables in my studio!


But that is the least of my worries.
Which photos to use for promotions
 invitations
catalogues
cards
and
Which words to use in Bios
artist statements
backs of cards
are decisions that are simply freaking me out!

I have to say that the blue section above
is a favourite of mine.
It includes the day that we received news from our insurance
that my car was a write-off
killed by chewing mice! 


Back when it was a more manageable size
It was easily rolled around a stick
and taken hither and thither.



Another favourite
when I spied a crow flying overhead
with the biggest twig he could manage.


At this moment I might be quietly freaking out
but
I am so looking forward to having this show with my dear friend
 the Mary E Black gallery in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.