I love you every day

How one lives as a private person is intimately bound into the work.  At some point I believe one has to stop holding back for fear of alienating some imaginary reader or real relative or friend, and come out with personal truth.

 

If we are to understand the human condition , and if we are to accept ourselves in all the complexity, self doubt, extravagance of feeling guilt, joy,

the slow feelings of the self to its full capacity for action and creation both as human beings and as artists, we have to know all we can about each other and we have to be willing to go naked.

images: cottage time with our younger daughters (the aunties)
              and oldest grand daughter (4 years)
text:  May Sarton 

water stitching

 

 

 

 grand child with snorkel

 

six weeks of family
mish mash of emotions
settled with horizontal in and out breathing stitch

ritual

We have a family ritual

 on the final night of the visit, we go by boat to the bell buoy and wait for sunset

the water gleams at this time of day

 

 

 life is meaningful

sky
sky
water

water music

One of the things I like about making,  is the evidence that I was here.   Somehow, the length of time spent with a piece is held within it. 

My hand's gesture and touch stays with the beautiful object.  

These streamers of cloth petals are a different way of thinking for me.
They are planned to be ephemeral.

The time it takes to stitch each one seems to disappear.  Look at these drops / dots.
They seem to just be.
They exist like rain exists, or dappled sunshine.  They are only meant to be perfect for one day.

Looking at these I realize that I've never felt quite so close to being like mother nature.  She who paints with small marks like leaves, grass, clouds,  in immense spaces... with confidence. 

My streamers fall and move with the breezes.  When the wedding is over, they will have completed their purpose.  These not heirlooms.

They will have a brief performance like the poof of a piano sonata after months of practice. 

untitled

 today

what is really necessary?

Clarity

In the afternoons, I've been driving into Little Current to stitch Precious Water, the meditation panel currently in the frame at the church hall.  I go alone.  

The marks I make in the pre-textured fabrics are invisible, but they will last.  This pleases me. 

 I'm using silk thread,  a thick needle, meandering stab stitch and withdrawal from society.  

I'm so motivated to work right now. To getting my work DONE.

"You only have so much time.  Spend it on your work.  Organize your day around your work."  
Penny McMorris

A fifth direction through time

The fourth (and final) meditation panel of the manitoulin circle project is well under way.  The working title of this panel is Four Directions.   This piece is made from wool blankets (two were donated), lace doilies (all donated) and hand stitched linen damask from vintage tablecloths. 

The lace came in over the three years of this project.  Women were generous and I am overwhelmed by the sheer beauty of these delicate threads.  I wanted to use the lace, but was worried that it would distract from the minimalist aesthetic in the meditation panels.  But when viewed in connection with the calm woolen grid, it seems subtle enough.  Layers of these lace pieces will connect our labour to that of women who came before us.  A  fifth direction through time.

Delicate and interesting, the small white squares shown above are made by layering small pieces of damask linen on a foundation, then embellishing the result with beads and lines of seed stitch. Originally, I had thought to fill just one 1/4 section of the circle with this design (see top photo),

but we have enough to fill the whole lower half of the circle.  It's serendipitous....the horizon design relates this new panel to earlier ones.   

I love it when the water shines like it did on Thursday morning.   Precious Water.

And the third panel also shone in the morning light when I arrived at the church at 10 am.  Ned and I usually come back to Manitoulin on Wednesday evenings (3 1/2 hour drive) so that I can keep my Thursday stitching. 

 Notice how Precious Water has been rolled on the frame as we work our way to the center.

I am considering how to make something that will honour the many pairs of hands that have worked on these panels.  126 of us so far.  Above are Marian's hands.

Manitoulin Circle Project, every Thursday in Little Current, Manitoulin Island.  All welcome.

the lower half

I was invited to make another presentation about the Manitoulin Circle Project yesterday. This time the presentation was for the regional United Church clergy who were meeting in Espanola, about an hour's drive from my home. I had seven minutes, as other people were also presenting.

Very briefly then, the circle project is the creation of four large meditation panels using hand stitch. They are designed to hang in the sanctuary of the Little Current United Church. They are liturgical pieces and use the gentle colours of Christian faith. White and gold for celebration and holiness. Green for ordinary days.

A circle of women come together to stitch on these panels every Thursday. The four large panels each have a large circle within a large square. They measure between 90 and 100 inches across.
The archetype of the circle is an old and important symbol for all of us. It’s one of the first shapes that Carl Jung believes is in our unconscious. The circle symbolizes perfection.
It symbolizes eternity and completion.
There is no beginning or end with a circle. In my research I learned that when a horizontal line divides a circle, the lower half is like the ark and represents water, while the upper half is like the rainbow or heaven or sometimes called the upper water. I found this idea of representing water very inspiring.
Pictured is the third panel of the project, "Precious Water".

nature is awesome

view of "the open" Georgian Bay We've been spending most of August at the cottage, and I've taken my circle project work with me. The floor of the main room there is just big enough to lay out the third panel. Progress on the second panel is steady. We've rolled both sides now, and stitch together on Thursdays in Little Current. It's slow work, but I really do think that the repeated touching of the dense quilting adds power to the panel, Mended World. same view, later in the day

Click here to see a skein of birds over Denmark. An amazing spirit lift/gift during times like these.