Spirit Cloth

a w a y . . .

 

A lot of stuff is taking up a lot of time right now.

I created a category for away because I will need it this year.

Through

 

Path

How we get though... might encourage many new forms, new perspectives.

I'm going through some ups and downs. I smiled when I found this old drawing from the 60s.  I guess I've been going through some ups and downs for a while now. I used to get through without cloth.

Journal entry from January 31, which I haven't had much time to go further with. But with another layer of notes.
Remembering the feeling that some pieces were missing from the puzzle and how I struggled with that. 

Away again with stuff, company, and more stuff.

 

 

Vibration

(((o)))

Often defined as a rapid back and forth motion...

 

Here used as a symbol of a very special kind of just going which involves  rocking. Which I think reflects the emotional state of seeking balance. And that might alter the atmosphere of place through a sort of resulting energy and also be communicated, even if just sensed by others. Who might sympathize. And find it useful.

In sympathy with the wavy weave in the green cloth, I've made a few stitches to bring that out to be noticed and also to form a pattern that vibrates beyond the figure. I drew that vibration in white pencil first. Not too much, just the sense of it. The sense of what I was sensing. Encouraging story from the cloth itself. Using that energy.

And I've added fringe. A symbol of continuing, here like roots, continuing to grow then. Not so invisibly.  Since magic to me is the nature of appearing and disappearing, I like thinking about the magic of growth and how roots are so often hidden. But not here.

I am sharing what I am just thinking. So many times, in my experiences with others, that is hidden away. Or replaced with a practiced performance. Over time I realize that has been entertaining, but not that useful. I hope I live long enough to know what I mean by that.

The moon is discharged on an old Ikat. Ikat is made by resist dyeing the threads before weaving. Which I would like to try soon. (probably if you use the search thingie in the sidebar, type in ikat, you will find some old posts about ikat) I always liked Ikat because of how it seems to vibrate.

How Cloth Informs me

Old Silk Ties.

I think one of the first attempts at collecting cloth started there.

Thrift shops. And of course some of Dad's old ties. And his Dad's ties.

Silk. Jacquard woven. I always loved the little motifs. Even before I learned how to weave them. Loving them pushed me to that.

These small woven designs often become symbols for me. Or help me develop motifs in stitch. I've used this circle divided into 4 before. For me it is a kind of calendar. A clock. A junction. But I ran across this scrap while sorting this morning. I just cut one dot out.  I made a note to myself about heart and time and season and the rhythm of the thing. The spin in the beat that creates center. The circle that the sense of things can make.

As I begin the index process for Feel Free, today, I think I might start with S. And try to speak about Spirit Cloth. I get asked about that so often.  And really, every time I get asked, I have to ask myself again, why Spirit Cloth?  The answer to this question always becomes a rocking back and forth between now and then. What was I thinking? What am I thinking now?

As a new season unfolds here, most personally for me, I know I must mend the design of my Feel Free project. Perhaps scale it back a bit to fit a more mobile phase in my life. Make it smaller but not less. In the meantime, I continue working on these small pieces that portray a wandering self. A stray has no agenda other than to keep going and enjoy the safety in  kinder days. The chill has gone and the gentle rains have moved in. I hear the geese overhead. They are their own magic carpet.