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