Journey

As I contemplate my entry into the 2018 SoTA ( state of the Art ) exhibition I have been reflecting back on this piece Journey which was juried into the exhibition in 2012. I had painted and stenciled a piece of calico. This sat for awhile before I noticed the large central circle. The colours led from there and the boat as a symbol for a journey came from the quote by Mark Twain

         ‘ Twenty years  from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do
             than by the ones you did do.
             So throw off the bow lines , sail away from the safe harbour’

Boats and sailing on the high seas have always been a part of the folklore within my family now and in the past. The words  salt spray,  trade winds, marine, anchor, ocean, roaring forties, mainsail, Cape Horn and North winds touch the part of me that holds the genetic memory of ocean sailing and always invoke a feeling of excitement and longing and so these were used to form a mind map for stitching on this journey.

After watching and dabbling in slowstich by following along with Jude Hill @spiritcloth I knew this was the style of textile work I preferred. Hand stitch , slow stitch , story cloth , mindful stitching , soft, organic, free, no rules, no confinement, mending , darning, vintage and tattered textiles.  So my little piece Journey was the start of a new journey for my work.
 Now to 2018’s entry 🤔