Finishing

 Last day of 2022 and I am hoping to finish this stitched piece either today or tomorrow. The texture is what I was aiming for and as usual the back is as textured and as interesting as the front. A mix of fabrics, cotton , silk , and synthetics of varying types including some sparkle. Hand stitched all over to give the ripples of fabric and will be embellished further with some embroidery stitches. The ripples are like marks in the sand after the waves have washed over. 

Look Inside

 I started this piece by stitching a round mandala. Then as it was such a slow mindful process I started thinking of the house with 5 rooms. So each point on my ‘compass’  became symbolic of one of the rooms. These being social, emotional, spiritual, physical and cognitive or intellectual. Each day each of these rooms need to be attended to. I try to do that in some way. 

Doing some yoga stretches or poses , going to Pilates or a walk, drinking a glass of lovely cool water, reading , researching , slow stitching , chatting with friends either face to face , in text or email , are some of the things I turn to in order that these rooms of mine are attended to. 

I continued on with this theme and actually added a roof to my house where I stitched some of the practises of body , mind and spirit which I have either read , dabbled with or practice and attend to in my life today. These are ancient eastern, Celtic, or Greek origin. Archetypes, astrology, yoga , chakras . 

This is for an exhibition in Sydney in March so I am only showing details .

Watercolour play

I have never really explored with watercolours only using a dab here and there to add to a simple sketch. So now I have decided to push it a bit more. Not to do anything realistic but abstract . To see how colours blend and play with each other , perhaps as exploratory ideas for use in stitching. I like the softness but not sure if you can use them on fabric. I imagine they wash out, so might leave that to diluted acrylics.

Three of my mixed media pieces have been included in a book. Art from your Heart which was published online by the coordinator@heathermatthew  of the Facebook group of the same name. These were from monthly online challenges that went for a week at a time. My pieces were all sketches of the story I was telling with watercolour, fabric and paper collage added.