A New Year's Wish for You

My favourite New Year wish for you

first posted on January 1, 2014.

May your day be filled with blessings

Like the sun that lights the sky,

And may you always have the courage

To spread your wings and fly!

May your past be a pleasant memory,

Your future filled with delight and mystery,

Your now a glorious moment,

That fills your life with deep contentment.

May your troubles be less

And your blessings be more

And nothing but happiness

Come through your door.

May the nourishment of the earth be yours

May the clarity of light be yours

May the fluency of the ocean be yours

May the protection of the ancestors be yours.

Blessings on you and yours this new year.

Our Show is Closing on December 18th With a Closing Online Conversation

 

Judy Martin, Miranda Bouchard and I would like to invite you

to a closing reception online at Zoom.

Like last time you can register through this link

The Mississippi Valley Textile Museum

I noticed that you have to scroll down their page to get to the

registration link.

We are very grateful for all of you who have managed to make the trip to see our show.

The Mississippi Valley Textile Museum tell us that it has been very well attended

considering all the Covid restrictions.

If you have been there very recently you will have met photographer Paul Latour who has been documenting the show.

The two installation images here are by Paul.

Perhaps we will see you online in seven more days!

 

When Beavers Live Close By

 

It amuses me that the beaver sticks have gathered in their own little corner of the show.

"Chasing the Moon"

Memories of daily walks down to the marshlands

Watching as the landscape changed when beavers moved in.

When they moved in and built oh so many dams

what was a meandering stream became a lake

covering all the grass you see here.

They would greet me and the Rusty Pups

with noses just above water

and sharp black eyes watching....

....then with a noisy slap of the tail on the water's surface

they would casually get on with their business.

I imagined that slap to be a greeting 

but of course it must have been a claim to territory where we were not welcome

My work is a bringing together of snippets of memory

Trees stripped of bark and marked by strong beaver teeth

Cold dark waters of winter

Marshland grasses that flourished so well in that watery environment

But turned golden yellow in the long wintery months.

On winter mornings after a good snowfall

the beaver tracks were easy to find 

 revealing nighttime activity and favourite pathways

 leading from water's edge towards the woods and back again

The black velvet water so uninviting on a cold winter's day

yet a refuge, a place of safety where beavers can thrive.

And of course a moon on a windy, winter's night

whilst I am warm and safe in my bed

the beaver were busy as beavers tend to be

fixing leaky dams

and storing edible trees underwater.

Such fascinating creatures who can change a landscape with two strong front teeth!

 I hope you too find joy in observing nature at work.

So many thanks to Susan Purney Mark and Miranda Bouchard for their photos of the show.

When friends come together "In the Middle of the World"

 

Judy Martin's exciting larger than life pieces

Reflections on a lifetime living in beautiful rural Northern Ontario

My heavily stitched smaller pieces

Reflections on years of living close to nature in beautiful Nova Scotia

The walls of the Mississippi Valley Textile Museum

An aged record of time past

In a way all three connected to the passage of time

Every year as the seasons move towards Winter

the undergrowth in our woods dies down to soft greys

All that remains are the deep ever greens and waves of red berries

Life giving berries for the creatures and birds of these parts.

Our winters are harsh here.

In the depth of winter swarms of robins with their white eye markings

descend on the wild holly bushes and eat to their hearts content.

The berries are all gone before winter's end.

 

The older trees whose bark is weaker and less resistant to insect invasions

soon become scarred by pecking woodpeckers searching for supper.

Did you know their tongues wrap around the back of their brains

protecting them from concussion as they hammer away at those holes?

This is the sort of information that comes out of my Handy Hubby.

The practical thinker in the family

Thank goodness one of us is!

I would wrap both arms around Judy's bundles and hold them close.

In the background is "Winter's Edge" my response to Autumn fading into winter.

The season when warm hugs are needed.

We both used warm autumnal colours

I can imagine Judy's repetitive motion while wrapping her wool strips around and around each bundle. 

I remember well my repetitive tearing of strips and couching them down over and over each other.

They are connected as we are in friendship.

My thoughts were to fade the colours into the sky

ending with a barely visible weakening sun

that is really only visible when you stand close to the actual piece.

Right from the days of childhood embroidery

Repetition and rhythm have been my favourite creative principle

Repetition of simple stitches

Rhythm in the physical movements that create the stitches

And I try to create flow and rhythm in my pieces.

Always exploring and still learning.

And this is the mess of all beginnings!

And finally one more friend who is such an important part of this project

A young curator who's dedication to this project is unbounded

A wise, thoughtful person working very hard in the background on our behalf.

Miranda Bouchard

I am full of gratitude for these two amazing women

We are sharing quite a journey.

And thank you to Judy who sent me her photos of the show for me to use since I could not travel.

More to come!

Getting Back into the Rhythm of Stitch

What a glorious Summer we had here in Nova Scotia

A Summer to remember

Everything grew and grew and grew

Wild apple trees drooped under the weight of apples the size of grapefruits.

Rusty Pups discovered they were delicious!

Bright, bold Dahlias grew as big as dinner plates 

Dancing through my flowerbed

They took my breath away

And were still going strong until Jack Frost put them to rest. this week.

Wanting to remember and celebrate this Summer

For me that is through stitch.

It will be a piece of joyful memories

Giant balls of colour and stitch.....

.... will dance across my piece with companions of every size.

And of course they will come to rest on the soil

which they will enrich in preparation for next years Summer.

The cycle of life.

I am content

I am joyful

I am dancing along with the dahlias in memory of this Summer past

and settling down to new stitchings with anticipation.

It is what I do.

When the Rusty Pups come and plonk themselves in front of me as I stitch....

,,,,and even shove their noses into my cloth as I stitch....

....informing me they feel neglected

So we stop for a cuddle

Or a walk

Or a meal.

They are very patient but there comes a time when they feel the need to interject!

I hope your companions of every kind allow you the time to create today!

Bits and Pieces from "In the Middle of the World"

I have been stuck for words

Not knowing what say about sharing this beautiful space

with my dear friend Judy Martin 

We are both inspired by the landscapes we live in

Hers on the shores of Manitoulin Island

Mine in the tangled woods around the Annapolis Basin in Nova Scotia.

My process has been for many years influences by these words from 

Peter London's book 'Drawing Closer to Nature'.

"Find a portion of the world that is close at hand and adopt it. Become acquainted with it. Draw closer to it by staying with it over a long course of time. In all seasons, all times of the day, all weathers, all circumstances of your own life. The more often you return to this chosen portion of Nature, the more finally you will be able to perceive its more delicate features, as well the slow-to-emerge patterns and rhythms."

Each piece is about how the natural world around me has touched me.

Every piece has a story connected to simple daily observations

of life in the woods and marshes and shorelines

around me. 

I understand the immensity of Judy's pieces

I have driven with her through the mighty rock cuts of northern Ontario

I have sat with her looking out over the endless horizons of Lake Huron.

Love this photo of pieces waiting their turn to be hung!

So many thanks to our young curator, Miranda Bouchard, who works so diligently on our behalf

and writes so beautifully about our work.

(You can see her curatorial statement in the MVTM link below)

So many thanks to Melanie and Michael at the Mississippi Valley Textile Museum

who have provided the best environment for our show

which will remain there until December 17th, 2021.

Happy Thanksgiving!

In the Middle of the World is Getting Closer and Closer

All rolled up and ready to go off to the 

The Middle of the World.

I was overwhelmed

had to sit down and wipe away the tears.

I am reluctant to let them go.

The pieces are the colours of Nova Scotia

from dye baths of local plants and trees.

There is a piece of me in every stitch.

Each stitch a reflection of my thoughts and feelings

 in that meditative rhythm of needle passing through cloth.

I feel I can say more with needle and thread than with words

Words are so black and white...they freak me out!

Stitching is where I can be truly me.

These pieces have been close to my heart for months

years even

and I want to keep them safe at home with me.

But then I remember part of the joy of creating

is sharing the work with others.

Birthday Celebration that Should Have Been

 

Happy Birthday Steven

On this day when you should have turned 49

My goodness me, that is nearly an old man!

You are loved

And missed so very much.

Summer....My Favourite Time of Year

It's been a glorious Summer

A time to dye

with Madder and Cutch and Myrobalan

A time for the garden to grow out of control

Full of abundant dye material

A time for my wild child to explore the dried out stream

But not too far my dear

There is a black bear cub and his Mom around!

We have managed to maintain our new civilized flowerbed

and the dahlias are still incredible.... 

....and so huge!

Even the Rusty Pups have enjoyed the abundance of flowers

and....

....basking in the Sun has been pure joy!

For those of you whose Summer is coming to an end

I hope it was glorious for you too.

There are some whose Summer is just beginning

and I envy you.

Summer....my favourite time of year.