Winter story

                                                                               

                         
        

Our neighbors have horses. Their animals are a lovely part of country life. In winter I often see horses  with blankets. A quiet story of the winter around here. The applique/embroidery is worked on pieces of old quilts.Not quite a blank base. Even the white bases have needle trails from the quilter. I love sewing on these soft, worn cloths.  

Because of a health condition, painting (oils, anyway) is no longer an option for me.  

Janet Bolton is one of my favorite artists. And lately I've discovered Mandy Pattullo

and Cas Holmes, all British artists.

             Some years ago I was able to take several online classes with Jude Hill.

              All of these teachers have taught me a way to make story cloth.

Two flowers

This little cloth was inspired by drawings of plant propagation in a memo book
(from 1962!) in a box of papers from mom's house. The electrical
'maps' drawn in another book remind me of landscape maps. After a long, dry spell
running around trying different things I feel at home again with my cloth making.
Talked with
a friend today who is going through her own dry spell as a painter. I remember that awful blocked feeling between the good times when stories come freely.

Maybe the way to stay out of those dry spells is to look at everything with an eye
to what else it may have to say to us? My friend and I talked about books which led her to her bookshelf and a book given to her in the 60's by a great teacher. Inside was an encouraging letter from this teacher. Amazing how these things go, isn't it?

Three days making

July 4th is when the first tomatoes ripen here. Tomato soup with the real ugly ones.

 fabric collages to hand stitch.

a hat from kimono fabric.

potato salad from the garden harvest.

bases for chandelier...an experiment using plaster studio workshop techniques...

substrates for painting

And many hours with my best pal. Who could ask for more from a long weekend?

Looking up

Lately have been looking up. At the moon, the clouds, the trees dancing. I noticed Opie looking up at
the returning birds and up the brick walls for lizards on the warmer days. These creatures got together
in my weekend sewing. They've been waiting for the right time to enter a bigger cloth.