this bunny is in stitches

Good evening ... and I hope that a wonderful weekend is in store!

Apparently, this piece turned into a bunny somewhere along the way, it is watercolour on cotton muslin and some acrylic on sheers ~ with hand stitching.

It was only when a family member said ~ "it looks like a bunny", that it took on new life.

Wishing you Happy Easter and Happy Spring!

Unravelled

hi and hope this finds everyone well ... been offline for a bit!

first, I wanted to pass along an update on my butterfly project ~ it did not get juried in but that is perfectly fine, as I know you just never know what the jurors are looking for ...

this is a newly started piece called "unravelled", it is inspired by Ravel's Bolero and his struggles at the end of his life. it is only just pinned yet but will have stitching started very soon.

A New Layer

A new layer has been designed and applied, although still needing to be stitched. I am hoping you can see more of the form through this sheer ~ I have stitched the sheer as well but I am thinking it is as hard to tell as it was to do.

This has been a lot of fun and a great design experience, and that with the next post it will be finished. So, wish me no stray stitches that I have to take out.

~ have a wonderful weekend ~

new work ~ progress

Hello ~ on this snowy evening, the winds are up and the snow is blowing, who knows what it will look like in the morning. Beautiful, I am sure ...

I am so excited about where this is going, it is a slow process but I love every twist and turn and stitch. My debate was if I should take it to my machine or keep working by hand ... for now I am keeping my hand to my work. I find I have more control by hand ... so I worked on a similiar piece strictly by machine ... I love it too but they have different personalities.

This piece will have a final sheer vintage fabric over the top that will let the image peek through, it may not be that far away!

New Fibre Work

I am thinking to myself ... what have I been doing, and then I remember that Christmas is almost upon us. The handknits to finish, the packages to post and the unwrapping of those decorations that have been around forever but come back every year as old friends. There are stories to read, cards and cookies to make ... it never all gets done as one might envision but that is perfectly fine by me. I find it is the small things that make it special ~ the walks at night, the music and more time by the fireplace ... I think those are the things I cherish the most.

And of course, starting a new piece (which has no name or final goal yet) but will eventually have layers of sheers, some vintage fabric and perhaps the addition of watercolours. I am looking forward just working on this in which ever direction it might take me.

I wish you time to linger!

where to work on a pretty day

Today is one of those days where my work inside beckons me and the work outside calls ... it is a beautiful fall day, with crisp air and plenty of sunshine. I will head outside shortly to plant a few hydrangeas for next year and move a few things around ...

Lilies 2 is coming to an end very soon, I am finishing up the last few places of thread sketch

I will post them post very soon, to see them together ... then the presentation of the pieces which always leaves me a little wondering ...

A new piece is on the drawing books for a juried show after Christmas which will include some reclaimed and vintage fabrics that I have stumbled upon ... I am still developing the images but it is always exciting to have new thoughts racing around, the fabrics are soft and delicate as well as some of them being a bit more on the sturdy side ~ a great contrast.

The sketches have started and then will come the watercolours ~ lots of options and direction

Have a great week!

Lilies 2 of 2 ~ in progress

a little closer detail

First, I hope that eveyone is in the middle of a lovely weekend.

Here is the second of the "lilies" set (still in progress) ~ shown with a little detail work.

I find that as I explore this medium more and more ~ that I am using my reference sketches less and less. More intuitively following the composition of the piece as it sits in front of me, letting the work dictate to me how I go from place to place.

This is watercolour on muslin, wool rovings and hand stitch

Lilies 1 of 2

and some detail work below

I showed this as a work in progress a while ago ... so here it is finished (with some details) and the second piece of "Lilies" is well underway. I have been reading about everyone working in their gardens, collecting,and harvesting. It has been the same here ... I love this time of year and find it so hard to come inside.

This is watercolour on muslin, with wool rovings and hand stitch

Lilies in Progress

details

This piece is progressing well, although sometimes it heads in a totally different direction that I certainly never expected ... and then I say "hmmm' that is not what I had in mind a week ago. I find it very interesting how the work progresses and changes through apparently no cause of my own, at times I really like it and then other times, I take it out and work in a different direction. I find my work with fibre is more susceptable to that than my paintings were, perhaps I am planning less now. Not a bad thing ~

I hope to work a lot this long weekend and to all of you I wish a wonderful September weekend.

New work ~ getting started

Details ~ (and pardon my basting stitches)

OK ~ I think I am back, this is a piece I have started in the last week or so, inspired by lilies in the garden. This is the first of two ... also watercolour on muslin, wool rovings and hand-stitch. I have discovered for myself that hand-stitiching is so very calming, methodical and quiet. I love my machine but find that I have to walk away after awhile as the sound can become too much.

I hope to do a good mix of both over the next few months ...

Will post the finished piece when it is done!

The Sedum Series

This is the second in the series ... of sedum heads from last fall. I hope you like the colours and the stitches, and the bits and pieces of stitch left behind. The second piece seemed softer that the first ... maybe not so controlled or anticipated.

This is watercolour on muslin, with rovings and handstitch.

Sedum heads I ~ first of two

This was inspired by a huge bed of sedum that I found last fall ... the colours were stunning in that light.

So, I had started this series over the winter and then put them aside to work on a couple of other pieces that had become important. While digging through my colour searches, I came across the little water colour I used to determine my colour palette for the work. The goal at the time was to only set the pigments that I was looking for in the finished piece.

I find the process of colour searching so very helpful ~ the pieces started up again and with

this little watercolour to drive me on ~ the second is almost completed.

This is watercolour on muslin, rovings and hand-stitch

The Changing Landscape ~ juried in!

I can't tell you how pleased I was to learn last night that I piece that I had been working on most recently has been juried into a multi-disciplinary show at the Burlington Arts Centre in Burlington, Ontario.

This piece is called the Changing Landscape and has been inspired by both a beautiful piece of landscape pottery but most important the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. It represents the oil and water mixing and swirling ~ habitats in crisis and lives and livelihoods devistated by this event. I came to realize how deeply disturbed I was by this huge mess that seemingly has no easy solution for anyone involved. I hope and I wish that anyone viewing the piece will understand how fragile our enviroment is and how somehow not enough thought is ever given as to how much harm can come to it. The scope of this is way, way, way beyond me but even if a few more people that might view the show ~ give our enviroment a bit more consideration then hopefully the statement wasn't a loss.

This is acrylic on muslin, rovings, hand-stitched, mounted and framed for the show

Passing Storm ~ all together ~

Here are the three ~ finished and put together, once again, photographing my work may not be my strong point. I think I am done with threes for a while ~ the thinking is sometimes the hard part about that.

I hope they connect for you ...

acrylic on muslin, rovings, hand stich

Passing Storm ~ third of three ~

The third of my set finished ~ hopefully I will have them set on a canvas shortly. Seeing them together ~ you can look from one to the other ~ maybe there is a beginning, a middle and an end or maybe not ~ sometimes I will take up the same subject matter another time.

I find that there are things I that I keep coming back to over time and somethings I don't ~ but by keeping only a gentle grasp on the ideas maybe there will be another set of three. I like twos as well, but usually they are larger and the singles are even bigger again.

I am working on a single and also a set of two right now.

Interestingly enough, the subject can sometimes tell you what to do or where to go ... often, a storm has a beginning, a middle and an end ...

i wish you a great weekend

Passing Storm ~ second of three~

So, here is the second of this set, in the middle piece ~ I wished to catch the rolling and turning back of the wind on itself with the ever so golden glow in the background. There are lots of indigo fluid acrylics under those rovings.

this is acrylic on muslin, with rovings, and hand-stitch

Passing Storm ~ first of three ~

This is another small set of three that I have started ~ inspired by a passing storm and the beautiful light that followed the dark clouds. I hope that you can feel the wind and fast movement of the clouds. I sometimes enjoy a good storm as long as it passes quickly and is off at a distance ...

~ acrylic on muslin, wool rovings and hand stitch ~

best wishes

Red Threads

Another small weekend piece, taking a little break from the larger bits but still working on them non-the-less. I enjoyed the stray red threads and bit of wool that almost turned themselves into a heart (or a juggler with very long arms).

This is water colour on muslin woven strips, wool, threads and ribbon trapped beneath a layer of sheer (also water coloured) and then all stitched by hand.

Sunspot

This is a small piece from the weekend ~ sometimes a take a little break from the bigger pieces with the rovings and lots of stitch. I named it sunspot because it makes me think of what a sunspot would be like ~ if I could indeed see one ...

watercolour on both muslin and sheer nylon fabric with stray wool and threads trapped beneath ~ hand-stitched with french knots for fun

starry nights together

here are the three together ~ and mostly i am thinking i didn't do a great job of photographing them. (the individual posts have the better light)

the finished peice is roughly 20" x 10" ~ i enjoyed the really dark parts and the really light parts.

acrylic on muslin, merino rovings and hand-stitch