work in progress

Just a few pictures of work in progress for next year exhibition at Quennington Sculpture Trail in June.

 

artists book - butterflies.

 So life goes on in lock down. We are allowed a daily walk for exercise and I have been looking out for wildlife as usual and working in my journal. I have decided to make a little concertina book of butterflies as I spot them. Tortoiseshell above, large white below- please forgive my shadow!

 This is abeginning- butterfly with foodplant - well you can't have one without the other so nurture those weeds and nettles! This is a 6 inch meditation square I am working on too.

Meditation cloth and local observations.

 Difficult to know what to say in these worrying times. I am at home with all the family. I hope you are safe and well and managing it all. I am doing a bit of work on the circles cloth- good for calming.

 We are so lucky to be able to walk everyday in the countryside and observe the spring coming in. These are tiny wild strawberries in a lane wall.

 Sunshine on lichen. Yes we had some sunny spring days (but now it is back to drizzle.) Super colour and textures.

 Lastly the greylag geese are more visible by the local lake as they nest. They like to graze the fields and fly over early morning with their wonderful honking noise.Keep well everyone. I am posting everyday on Instagram because it is quick and easy. xxx

Winter cloth - meditation and slow stitch.

This piece, that I have named winter cloth, is the next in series from the cycle of the seasons cloth. I have stopped work on that until the spring comes and I can consider spring colours. So this is slow, quiet stitching enjoying the textures created by the rippling effect of the quilting on silk. There is winter sunshine and bare twigs and branches.I think all hand stitching is slow stitching but these repetitions are calming.Not that the design has come easily, it never does, but the stitching itself is soothing.

Falling leaves.

 I have been struggling on with this piece of falling leaves. Back and front shown here. whew too much stitching for one small piece and I should not have put so much on the background so now I am taking some out. It is a reminder to work all over a piece rather than finish one section at a time. Richard Box said on a workshop years ago - you wouldn't finish the eye on a whole body portrait and then go on to the head body, arms etc. work it all up together. So looking at this small piece I can see so much wrong with it. Better leave it for a bit I think and come back after Christmas with fresh eyes.

Dark,wet days here- to cheer myself up I have been working on my meditation circle and back to winter colours and border circles. These are lovely to do because the cloth changes under my fingers as the small circle is worked. The colours are restrained but that is lovely too. And I am getting into the corners of the large circle back to the winter colours. I have taken out stitching on this piece too- some of the heavier wool - it is better in silk and cottons. Hope to get the bottom border done and start thinking about Spring.
I hope your Christmas preparations are going well, it all gets a little crazy and I am waiting for that big hush when it all settles down and there is time and space to relax. Shortest day soon and then we turn the corner.

Slow stitch - circles and Autumn colour.

 I have been pondering over the borders on my large meditation circle- the cycle of the seasons.I began some small cicles and really enjoyed them. So this side is the autumn border, from the colours outside the window and autumn leaves. I have used either a variegated thread or 2 strands of different colour silk or cotton so that the colour isn't too flat but contrasts with the large middle circle. These are spirals for the unwinding effect.

 Autumn leaves gathered and pressed flat. Below at Westonbirt Aboretum - Lime Avenue.The leaves shone on a rather damp misty morning.

meditation words finished.

 All finished and it's going on my studio wall. It helped me concentrate in yoga on Wednesday. All the words are prompts to help me relax my muscles and calm my mind. So I can't touch my toes but I can try to relax fully and find a quiet mind.

The central image is a visual unwind message. The final word a promt to let go all the tension in my face ( I really have to nag myself to relax those jaw muscles!) and then the smile appears inside and out. It is a nice format and hope to do some more pieces this shape and size.

stitched meditation.

 I began a new piece of work at the weekend - a kind of spin off or second piece to my large meditation circle. I have been trying to think of what to do in the borders of this large piece and had an idea of words that calm the mind. I decided to make a small piece just for myself. So I have been thinking of a series of words that could take me into a peaceful place. (Like at the end of yoga in corpse pose) Choosing quiet and gentle colours. Not sure if the stitching is working but hurray that stitches can be undone if I change my mind.

 I thought I would stitch a word each day and think deeply about that word throughout the day. Difficult to choose just a few words but some trigger a response more than others. I wonder what your words would be?

Yesterday morning - a walk to Cherington pond. Calm and serene with autumn colours. (also very damp and muddy!)

Meditation circle - borders.

 Slowly putting in the borders on the meditation circle. There will be a circle in each corner, one for each season. Haven't worked out what is going in the rest of the border- maybe more circles? Have tried to get the borders straight! Much undoing. Need more tacking stitches I think.

This is Winter circle - same colours as the middle of the large circle. Turning cooler here in the mornings and evenings and with the Bank Holiday on Monday there is a definite turn of the seasons, as the children go back to school the following week. Have a good holiday weekend everyone, the weather is supposed to be warm and dry again.

Rosebay or fireweed. Meditation circle.

 Here is the Rosebay Willowherb we were discussing. Such beautiful bright pink spikes. I have stitched it lots of times.

 I have gone back to my meditation piece to add the colours of summer. I have also made my border outline of a square.

Yesterday I put in blue sky and pink rosebay colours. It begins in the centre with winter colours and comes into spring greens. By the outside it will be Autumn and back to Winter for the border. Well that is the plan. These first 2 weeks of August are called dog days and the season does hang on the cusp at the moment. The fields are shorn and the sultriness pervades like time has stopped. First signs are peeping in like the brown withered seeds of the docks and the first thistles setting. There were goldfinch feeding on the thistle seed.

More yellow.

Threads added to the meditation piece and celandine for the perpetual journal.

Daffodil.

Unusual weather here for February, frost or fog first thing then bright Spring sunshine and warmth bringing out the flowers and cheering everyone's hearts. This is a little tete-a-tete daffodil but we have larger ones out in the garden and the birds are busy and singing first thing. I picked up and added some spring colours to my meditation piece but really have to push on and finish the pieces for Quenington. This is a lovely piece to pick up and add to especially if feeling a bit under the weather (strange little phrase when the weather is so good- just a passing bug making me lethargic.)

Meditation and Stitch.

I want to keep notes on this new piece and how it develops but if you are signed up for Susi and Kays second workshop best not to read this so you can do all the tasks for yourself with a clear mind.
So I did start again on a larger piece of cloth with different colours. I have begun with Winter colours because this will be the heart of the piece. I should explain - on the Meditation and Stitch workshop we were given short meditations and tasks. One was to think about the word FLOW and write down associated word and symbols to go with it. Because I am working on my project of The Enormous Field I associated FLOW with Natures life cycle, seasons, the flow of growth and death etc. I decided to make my circles have breaks in them because of the ebb being naturally integral to the flow. If its a large piece you need more than one stitch, for interest. When I first started I had drawn little arrows on my lines but I dispensed with those when I started stitching. I also had to choose whether to continue on one large circle or lots of smaller ones. All the choices you need to make when you start a piece of embroidery! But like Kays advice - you just have to start. I am stitching this slowly and quietly, thinking about my theme and letting the rhythm of the piece carry me.

Hedgerow harvest has colour!

 So I added some colour- it did not go well at first but finally I got it right. It is thin and long- 8cm x 55 cm.( so not good for photography) The sloes have been stitched- the rest awaits.............

This is a tiny cycle to represent FLOW. I started it at a Meditation and Stitch workshop last Saturday with Susi Bancroft and Kay Swancutt. The idea being to think about presence rather than technique or overall design. Now I have had time to ponder on it I want to start again on a larger piece of fabric and think about the colours of a year flowing into each other. Hopefully more to come about this, it's a different kind of work but one I would like to develop.