What a wild ending to October, and an equally wild introduction to November. Where ever we live in the country, at some time many of us have possibly experienced the destructive damage that can be caused by the weather! Very sadly, we are told to expect more extreme weather “experiences” in the future too.
Luckily, here in Mevagissey, we missed the atrocious storm damage that many people suffered with the latest Ciaran storm. Our hearts go out to all those homes, and people who have suffered because of the storm.
Recently I have immersed myself in experimenting with a very simple printing block, and watercolour. I have only used acrylic paints with eraser printing blocks in the past, and decided to try a different approach.
This photo pretty much shows it all! At the bottom right there is part of a strip of cartridge paper that I had printed with watercolour on the block, over a background wash of watercolour! The background wash was still wet/damp, so the printed blocks, which was also wet, resulted in a “bit of a mess”, to be honest. It was not at all clear, and I was not sure if I liked it!
I constantly evaluate what is happening in my work as I go along, striving to make the best of any effort I have put in. Lets face it, virtually every stage of any art work can make any of us sigh and wonder if it is worth continuing! After all this was an experiment, I had no pre-formed idea of how it might turn out, or indeed what processes I was going to try, so I had nothing to lose! So I cut the strip into sections, which you can see in the rest of the photo above, and decided to use a fine line black drawing pen to emphasise areas of the printed sections. A big improvement! They became clearer, and instantly I decided to use a very fine paint brush and use bright colours to infill the drawn “petals”. Now it was looking a very different kettle of fish! The bright paint had given life to the little section!
I was smiling now, which for me, is always a positive sign. When I placed a couple of dyed threads on the table, I really liked the addition, so using a glue stick I dabbed glue spots in the corners and on the centre, on the reverse side of the painted card and pressed a piece of Vilene in place over the glue spots, smoothing it out, before stitching a daisy stitch around the printed “petals”.
What a transformation! I love adding stitch to whatever I am doing, and I love using my dyed threads too.
These two close up photos show clearly that the the stitch sits on top of the card, giving an additional “layer” to the little pieces.
I feel now that they are tactile, bright, and delicious! It was well worth working at them, and pushing the early results on. I have a little project now for dark days, and evening sewing; portable and enjoyable.
About a year ago my friend Janine Ibbini, who lives in Abu Dhabi, was invited to become a member of a textile group called “Cloth in Common” https://clothincommon.com/
This is a small group of international artists who work with fiber. Their quilts are based on a one-word prompt submitted once every two months by a member. They have two months to complete the quilt. Each round (12 prompts) lasts for two years. They share their thoughts and art on this site. I have been following the site, and am fascinated by the diverse results submitted by the members each time. The latest submission prompt was Transformation.
Janine named her quilt “Abscission”, https://clothincommon.com/abscission/ and introduced her quilt by explaining:
“The trees in Yorkshire were beginning to shed leaves as we left back to UAE in mid- September. The dropping of leaves by deciduous trees is called Abscission. It occurs on the cusp of autumn and winter as part of a long cycle of growth, maturity and renewal. “
Personally I had never heard that term before, and I read her explanation about the processes involved in the designing, planning and execution of her quilt, fascinating. What a very apt quilt for Autumn, too. It is stunning.
This is a short Stitching News on this occasion, but before I sign off I would like to remind you of Textiles+ exhibition, “Entangled Threads”.
I have been a member of Textiles+ for several years. Since our last exhibition in 2021, we have welcomed a few new members and they bring exciting skills in ceramics, weaving, patchwork and embroidery. We are all really looking forward to exhibiting our work together.
Members of the group will be present, stewarding every day. Textiles Plus’ biennial exhibition of work will be held at The Poly, Spring Gallery, 24 Church Street, Falmouth, TR11 3EG on Tuesday November 7th to Saturday November 11th, from 10-5 each day. I shall be stewarding on Tuesday and Saturday. Entrance is free, and there will be a wide and varied selection of work to view, much of which will be for sale.
Happy stitching until next time!
Di
Di Wells Stitching News 