Wednesday 27 May 2020

Outside and Inside, Sunshine and Shade


Happy to be sitting in the warmth of the sun
Stitching a beaver story
Watching the woods
Surrounded by birdsong
Interrupted occasionally by a wet Rusty Pup nose seeking attention


when it gets too hot we move back inside


Above the horizon the skies are forming.
For the last few years my work has always included an horizon
A dividing line
Not necessarily horizontal, sometimes vertical.
Perhaps
Because I am most comfortable feeling grounded
as I search for what is behind the horizon?
Or perhaps I am just drawn to that design element.
I don't know.


 I started stitching crosses on the silk velvet ground
Sticks can form crosses
Though the beavers seem to weave them together somehow
with mud and grass.
But then...


 ....turned to check the back and as usual
 loved the expressive free stitches on the wrong side 
compared to the disciplined front.
So....
started stitching the crosses on the back 
in order to get those unruly stitches on the front!
Love it!

As I stitched I thought of how my stitching sister,
Judy Martin, talks about her works
that can often be seen from both sides.  
In her blog post from June 13 2011
entitled 'and still maintain a normal life'
she writes
I've made many pieces over my long career that show through metaphor how we each have two sides. A side we present to the world and a much more interesting 'inside'.
This piece (and still maintain a normal life), however, 
is an attempt to just show our inner world. That too is a duality


I am comfortable stitching this piece
Happy flitting above and below the horizon
as my beaver landscape story develops.


And the ferns are reaching up towards the early morning light
as their story begins.

Be safe and gentle with each other

Sunday 17 May 2020

Yesterday was a Good Day


Walking this land every morning
clears the mind
opens up the heart
and influences everything
especially my work
Right now it is sticks
I see them everywhere


Where there are Beavers there will always be sticks


Some sticks pile up in log jammed streams


Some sticks end up on my design wall


Slowly bringing stitch covered sticks to life I hope


 Some know that I am trying to bring more blue into my life
but I have to say it girls
......
that blue might have to go!


The Rusty Pups and I walk on sticks
cleverly placed in mud 
down in the Soggy Bottom woods.
The work of our brilliant neighbour Steve!

In this strange time
it takes work to keep our days as normal as possible
I wish for you a normal day



Friday 1 May 2020

There is Something About New Beginnings


My spirit simply soars
when the decision is made
on which piece of cloth to pick up and stitch next.
There's always so many waiting in the wings
pinned to the wall
or laying on tables
but
when I commit
my heart lifts with excitement.
Doesn't it do that to you too?

Such a relief from our current reality
cut off from little munchkins
whose hugs I so miss.

Keeping creativity going is medicine indeed


Morning walks are medicinal too
I read somewhere that doing Sudokus just makes you good at doing sudokus
but 
a walk in the woods where you have to plan where to step
is good for and old mind and muscles like mine!


When Rusty Pups are behaving
A walk is a meditation for me
a time to observe what grows....


 ....and what dies.


The woods can be messy
it's floor strewn with worn roots and new growth


And my studio can be messy
Every flat surface covered in potential
and walls covered in layers of ideas percolating!


 Rusty Pups can be messy
all covered in mud
but today they came home cleanish
no diving into streams
or mud baths today!