check out my friend Brett's great introduction on his blog to High Macleod of Gaping Void. I love Hugh and he oftens inspires me with his daily cartoon, and the cartoon above basically pinpoints my dilemma and where I need to be heading.
important decisions
check out my friend Brett's great introduction on his blog to High Macleod of Gaping Void. I love Hugh and he oftens inspires me with his daily cartoon, and the cartoon above basically pinpoints my dilemma and where I need to be heading.
my work - finishing vessel 1
This vessel has been close to completion for almost a month and today I did the last stitch, not clear if I love or loathe yet, but completed.
is it a home for my memories
a nest for my stories
is it a holder of my dreams
a place to lay my ashes
a version of me
or simply
a sloppy joe
a scarf
a t-shirt
a pair of leggings
taking the light where you can
A moment on the platform, my day job has overtaken life right now so I grab the lovely moments when I can.
my work - flags, the space where you have been
image: detail of flagYesterday I had a case of the SADS (i don't think it was really season affect disorder although the grey mist and gloom didn't help), I was just plain feeling sad. I missed home aka Australia, I was missing my family and then I realised my Dad doesn't live on the other side of the planet anymore. My team I work with did great at making me feel better and underneath it all it was one of those days.
and I truly felt the space where you had been, a previous life an old me that doesn't exist anymore and into my mid jumped my flag that quotes ' the space where you lived'.
and I truly felt the space where you had been, a previous life an old me that doesn't exist anymore and into my mid jumped my flag that quotes ' the space where you lived'.
weekend=happy
Photos = phase 1 of house of memoriesWeekend summary - worked late on Friday night at office then had take away; Saturday printing at City Lit print room; Sat night re heat take away with boy; Sunday weaving and stitching what is becoming the house of memories(with a little bit of Oprah on the side), quick run to John Lewis for more supplies and then cooked a stack of roast veggies for dinner with the boy.
This weekend=lots of making=happy me.
Krista Muir inspiration
Inspiration for me and you by Krista Muir a new lovely discovery via Hoopla: the art of unexpected embroidery
my work - playing with possibilities
All the ideas that have built up in my sketchbook, brain and fingers are started to be played with. Before I dive head long in another engrossing new work I am playing with possibility. I still get really surprised when the ideas that have built into wonderful concepts in my imagination in reality are tedious or just don't hold the magic..... and then in an unexpected morsel of an idea something starts to take hold that begins to wake you with potential in the mornings.
So something has started to take a hold and I am still determined to play with possibilities for some more.
my work - closing in on the last stitch
flag - done!!
So close to the last page that it is really bothering me, so glad it is the weekend. Although that means I am truly and full frontal facing the last stitches.
So close to the last page that it is really bothering me, so glad it is the weekend. Although that means I am truly and full frontal facing the last stitches.
my work - Flag 63
In the fog of slowness (aka delaying losing this connection to my focus, my Dad and the physical process of my grief) I have just completed FLAG 063 - only one more to go. Moments or months or weeks past I had plenty of energy for the next idea right now I am blank and solely on one stitch at a time.
Self Vs. Self: Art Saves
Self Vs. Self: Art Saves: "'Art saved me; it got me through my depression and self-loathing, back to a place of innocence.' – Jeanette Winterson I hadn't realised just ..."
Hazel Dooney is so bravely honest in her art ,her blog and her life. It is gift, often sometimes not so easy to swallow but in fact that is part of its beauty. Her post on Feb 17 about Art saving you is much what i have been thinking lately, so check it out.
An idea has also been visiting me that I wrote down while watching a Louise Bourgeois film,
My emotions are too big for me. Is my making simply an outlet for my too big emotions?
from my sketchbook
I thought I would share a double page from my sketchbook.
Ever since I have scrawled those big grey letters in my sketchbook a few weeks ago they have been inked on my brain, in a really positive way (they have also turned into a flag).
Inspiration with katie armstrong
The ever inspiring, the ever wonderful - Katie Armstrong and her latest beautiful animation.
Go see her Tumblr to keep in the loop on her process, life and creations. ONE MORE TIME!
Katie also has a vimeo channel - here!
gratitude
A photo from my commute, currently consciously recognising the fantabulous aspects of my life, of which there are many. One last week was the sunshine pouring in through the train window as I commuted, my favourite building glowing in an unusual London morning. I stopped my stitching and took an iphone hipstamatic photo.
my work - completed heart flag
So this is the first image I have posted since last year of a finished flag. I am currently nearing the end of this current making process with my prayer flags. It is like reaching the end of a really good book as you get closer to the end you almost want to slow down reading to make it last longer while at the same time being desperate to see where the conclusion leads.
Really lucky to be enjoying my day job so much at the moment while being in my usual quandry about what to do next with my usual thinking of sorting out my life, starting a business etc etc etc
The best way for me to be is just to go straight back to my making process where my focus strengthens and all tigers of the mind disappear.
my work - the process of the heart part II
Following on my my drawing monoprint experiments, with this flag on boxing day using my little magic red sewing machine(a Christmas gift) I stitched onto the canvas.
my work - the process
There are many steps along the way as I am making 64 flags. One of them has been experimenting with drawn monoprints directly onto canvas and other fabrics. After a few attempts I think the results have been ok. Make the decision on this technique for yourself.
making making
When I am creating and making there is a certain sense of peace and joy that envelopes me..... pure pleasure on a stick. Even when I am going through the dirty dark bits I am still having a great time. This includes making cakes, cooking when not for pure function, making of any type of image or stitch. So when I was sent this photo of an early me it pretty much summed up how I feel today, and has certainly become a fav photo of little me.
This photo reminds me that I knew all this when I was young, there were just many years when I forgot and it really took me until my late twenties to be able to hold on to what I knew.
kelly rae: why photos mean the world to me.
kelly rae: why photos mean the world to me.: I loved this post from kelly rae and it reminded me of how I feel about photos from when I was a baby. Also a reminder of why I am so attached now to photographs and especially any I discover of myself when I was a baby or little girl.
away for a long time making
I have been away from this blog for a long time, working working, or should I say most of the time stitching stitching!
