Colours in the Garden

 

Our one rame flowerbed 

 So colourful this year full

Full of joy

I love it

Though I'm no gardener

I am trying!

Red the colour of our Root Chakra at the base of our spine

Keeps us grounded and connected to the universe

Deepening our sense of belonging and trust

Reds that dance in Summery breezes

For red is the colour that energizes us

Calls us into action

Romantic, passionate reds

Sexy and attention getting

A wee bit of quiet greyness

The perfect understated neutral

The colour of intellect and knowledge

And the colour of wisdom acquired through age

as us grey haired ancients!

Respect your elders kids!

Yellow sunshine

The colour of the Solar Plexus Chakra

located in our abdomen

provider of vitality and personal strength

 Happy Yellow brings warmth and positivity

enthusiasm

enlightenment

Lavender is prolific this year

Purple the colour of our Crown Chakra

Connecting us to the universal consciousness

Deepening our spiritual understanding

But back to intoxicating, alluring red!

And luscious browns are simmering in the garden too of course!

Associated with all things natural and organic

Wholesome

Comfortable

Earthy

Reliable

Approachable

Hearth and home

Life giving soil

Wishing you a day full of colour

Some People Know I Used to Use Colour!

Shorelines

I loved texture then.....still do.

Seven or eight layers of cloth stitched together 

(by machine in those days)

Then I took the scissors to it

and gave myself carpel tunnel problems for years afterwards!

I loved her weight

her drape

and her texture.

I love that she now lives with Judy Martin on the shores of Georgian Bay.

Sixties Groove

Also made at least twenty four years ago

Way before blogging!

Made for a Connections Show on the theme of Hippies.

I can't imagine now how I assembled all those curvey sections together.

This piece still makes me smile.

Memories it evokes

like my simple act of rebellion

painting my bedroom furniture pink and orange.

My cousin had ginger hair and the family always

said she should never wear pink.

But now we know differently don't we.

I am finding it quite calming to look back at past works

In these days of isolation, days of suffering and loss for so many families

my mind is scattered

my heart breaks

I cry

my blood boils

my spirit fills with admiration and gratitude 

for the heroism

 of those working on the front lines of this pandemic

Thank you.

The colours I am drawn to for the past twenty years

since the turn of the century are quieter and softer.

The lines I seek out now are those irregular

meandering lines created by Mother Nature.

I hope you have a happy and healthy day.

Colour Choices

The threads I have been drawn to lately

are the colours of nature's last fling before the snows.

Quite a change from the

beiges, greys and blacks

of recent months.

There are still several greys and neutrals pinned to the design walls

waiting for stitches

but with winter coming on

perhaps another warmer piece will be asking to come to life

alongside the neutrals.

Hey...

...perhaps next year's daily scratchings.

But I still have time for decisions like that.

Stitching Winter

Finally painted the stitched canvases...

Sticking to soft gentle colours of winter.

I've been couching every day.

Well actually one day I unpicked most of it....

....It had started bulging outwards.

Going round and round in circles can have that effect on cloth!

I nearly gave up.

But spiralling round and round in greys and soft blues

is speaking volumes to me at the moment.

So I persevered and am now more able to control any bulging.

In the beginning the cotton strips

rolled themselves into tubes.

Then in my mind I thought pebbles on the Fundy shore....

....and I started creating lumpy bumpy couching....

....then I decided to make the strips lay flat and wider.

Working in cloth takes time

time which allows the mind to relax and wander.

In it's wanderings thoughts turn to 'what ifs'

and your hands simply follow.

This is why I choose cloth to work with.

I need time and reflection.

Oh, and this is going to be a large piece

so I will have a lot of time with it.

Now I need to go back to the dye pots

and create more greys.

How Can Anyone Stay Inside on a Day Like This?

Oh, the yellow grasses

and the scarlet maple leaves

the less showy oranges of Fall

and the scruffy reeds.

So inspiring each and every one.