island self

how wonderful are islands

vivid and pure

people are like islands,
self contained, whole and serene
respecting other people's solitude   (Gift from the Sea)

I am my self.
My self does not need a lot of interaction with others.
It needs its own self
It needs solitude and quiet

I am not anti social
I love to hold my grandchildren close and interact with them through creative imaginings
I love to watch and listen to my beautiful daughters, all 4 of them

It's easy to lose myself though,
and not give my SELF honour and respect

Studying  Agnes Martin, Luce Irigaray, and Pema Chodron has made me more OK

I am me
I am intelligent
I am sensitive

I take care of myself by making art
I take care of myself by stitching

in and out
soft caress
in and out

be still

that's all there  is
all there is

patience, patience, patience is what the sea teaches.

patience and faith

one should lie empty, open as a beach, waiting for a gift from the sea

women give and give and give

everyone, especially women, should be alone for some part of each week - each day

the most important times in one's life are when one is alone

we need solitude in order to find the true essence of ourselves

our state of grace

our inner stillness

(these thoughts from gift from the sea)

time is a feminist issue

and time alone brings us close to spirituality

I am using my usual techniques
reverse applique
eyelet stitch,
back stitch
french knots
tucks
couching

repeating favourite stitches

over and over

I use a lot of repeated marks

I learned this from my mother (nature)

this post is the second in the series Sunday photos

starry night

Starry Night (detail above) hand stitched plant-dyed wool and silk.  2012

This piece showed in the 32nd quilts = art = quilts at the Schweinfurth Memorial Art Centre in Auburn New york in 2012.  It sold. 

It was still a baby.
Just hatched, left the nest.
These images are to give the piece some web-time. 

This blog is immediate, I can do it myself.
But it is a journal.
The references to family, environment and personal emotions give context to my work, but take away from a professional presentation. 
Nothing since 2009 is on my 'real' web site and sincere plans to update that get buried in the whirl of it all.
So for now...here it is.

absolute pitch

un-picked my stars took away the backing
used linen thread, seed stitch just to see I'm looking for perfection from this cloth. A natural perfection, not forced.

Perfect in its imperfection.
I want absolute pitch. Also called perfect pitch.

Current research indicates that absolute pitch is a natural ability, present in nearly everyone. Like colour recognition.

Unrecognized, undeveloped, it is unlearned at a very early age.

And so we think of it as rare.