Sunday 25 October 2020

Messy Beginnings


Beginnings for me are always a messy business
Boxes are rummaged through
for every potential colour and texture
and there are soooo many!


Fabrics and threads end up piled onto every flat surface
After all any change in colour or texture
affects the whole story.
I am not too precious about my fabrics
Always prepared to cut into them
well....that's a bit of a lie
There are some precious ones!


Friends interrupted my beautiful mess
They came around for a day of discharging
Had to tidy up as best I could
Piled everything on the floor beneath the design wall
'Creativity is not a pretty sight"


When I make a decision to get started
As you can see my starts are usually nothing
like my initial play on the design wall!
Just stitch and the story will start unfolding
But I have to go through that messy initial auditioning.
It's simply how it works for me.


I started by stitching messy shrubs along the water's edge
Didn't like that
Too literal
So then covered the shrubbery in a mass of tree debris.


This is a piece about the Canada that I love
The tangled backwoods
interrupted by hundreds of thousands of lakes and rocks.
Rocks
Lakes
Trees
Where wildlife can flourish if we don't mess things up.


 

9 comments:

  1. Yes, there is that messy part, to get into the flow. Fascinating how deceptive perception can be when influenced by self. When the first pic came up, I thought "Oh she's weaving now and with sticks!" ~ because that's how I saw it...blue as warp, 'sticks' as weft! Oh, and the piece pinned on, I saw as leather...because I have been sewing on it, so it is on my mind. Wild.
    Anyway, love to see your beginnings :)

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  2. That sounds lovely. Yes, there's always a messy stage, we just have to get through it as best we can!

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  3. Thank you for this peep into your process. It always fascinates me how an uncertain beginning resolves into a work of art that is wonderfully unified and seems inevitable.

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  4. Ah yes, that is the key: 'if we don't mess things up'! Here in the US, the majority is trying to keep that from happening, but our current potus has another idea, sadly. Hopefully we will see a regime change in the coming weeks. I love what you are doing and cannot wait to see more! Keep up the beautiful work, and hugs to the rusty pups!

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  5. Lovely to see your process. And yes, there are fabrics that can never be cut into! xx

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  6. Ooooh - but from those messy beginnings something wonderous is emerging! You know I would like this because (dare I say it?)...there's some blue!!

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  7. Looking beautiful and inspiring already.

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