Slowly Stitching

Slowly stitching in my island of calm

Weeping for injustices around the world

Praying that solutions will be found

Hoping that governments will prove themselves worthy

It is surely a time when drastic systemic change is needed

It is a time to invest in change

It is a time to invest in people

And talking of change

Our garden Robin decided to place her nest atop our garden hose

and we are very grateful to her for that

because they usually nest high above in spruce trees

but this year for a change we can get to watch her.

Eggs of new beginnings

Eggs full of potential for the future

It is hard not to have a heavy heart but

 Perhaps she placed her eggs in sight to remind me

it is possible to make a brighter world

and we are living through the time of change.

I hope you find some jewels in your day

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

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

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!

Bending in the Wind

 Nearly there

And so happy to have taken the trouble to remove the messy wind of before!

When you look straight on you hardly notice the wind at all now.

But....

....moving around and looking at angles

the wind can be seen a shimmering there.

 A few leaves are dancing

all that's left.

The winds have been strong here these last few days

We lost a couple

Snapped off half way down

Contemplating whether to enter the woods

where trees are blown over

on windy days just like this

but

out in the meadow

 lean into the wind

or be blown to and fro

like rag dolls I fear.

 Back at the car it's sheltered thank goodness

And back home there's a couch for

pooped Rusty Pups 

to collapse on!

Inspiration for Some New Beginnings Perhaps

I am finding the landscape the Beavers have left behind fascinating

Sometimes the Rusty Pups and I

visit the old Beaver territory on our morning walks

Because they are no longer here to maintain their dams

the water had receded

Revealing chewed off stubs of trees and bushes

Jutting up and out at every angle

I love the randomness

Back at home this Groundhog boldly

walked across the front of the house

right under excited Rusty Pups watching his every move 

from the safety of the kitchen window.

Apologies for the photo

it took me ages to find the camera and so got his backside!

Exhausted mighty beaver hunters

and groundhog observers!

New beginnings don't happen suddenly for me

I have to absorb and ponder

and understand 

before I can decide what story I want to stitch

but there is a point, as Meister Eckhart says,

when I do dive in and trust the magic

of new beginnings.

And suddenly you know:

it's time to start something new

and trust the magic 

of new beginnings

Meister Eckhart

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.