Spirit Cloth

the thick of it

Dense stitch.

Gives a textile an instant history somehow.  Like an old tapestry. Here, some old indigo thread I want to talk about.

But not now.

Now, the dentist.

 

shift

I tried all morning to post here.

By now I forget what I was going to say.

It's ok.

Summoning

 

For those of you subscribed by email, there is a video below and if you see no player you can watch it directly in YouTube by clicking this link.

I am a firm believer in Form Follows Function. And to extend that into the spirit of the thing, if you have no use for what you are making/doing, it will not turn out to be anything much at all. Usefulness is a broad concept. Maybe you need to make a living, maybe you need a blanket, maybe you need simply to see what happens. But there has to be something. For it to be something. 

This one is forming. Through intention. Even though I remain on the edge of what it might look like. I want it to be a two sided blanket, I don't want one side to be more than the other. I want it to center me and yet express empathy. To give visual form to that. No matter what it looks like. 

The red. Such an odd addition. But I like that it fits, make the candy colors work more deeply. As I drew and expanded the original red lines, stitched and then thought the split stitch was too blah and would also take too long, I switched to my signature Wrap Stitch, (here, stitched only on the top layer) I drew some dividing lines, for the bars, and suddenly those spikes seemed like backbones.  And courage popped into my head. And then the words...to become whole again, to heal, requires courage. 

I spent a long time stitching, and not one single minute watching either convention. I feel clear headed. And that is what I need this one for. 

A Seeing Morning

Good Morning.

It's cool. Cool for the first time in a long time.

Evidence of cycle. I feel like this one was left for me.  Right outside the porch door. Yesterday's confusion led me to a small eye sampler started a couple of years ago.  Some eyes still colorless... "complete the full spectrum of vision" I said to myself. 

There are Shells of Summer everywhere. They seem like eyes today. New eyes. Old eyes. A reminder that we need all eyes. To see.

The first stitching was done on a single layer. I think I used a hoop. But I cannot find my hoops, tucked a way somewhere because I don't use them much. So I added another layer. Because it is easier to stitch on more than one layer without a hoop.  These stitches, today's stitches, go all the way through. I thought about through. Eyes that see through.  Different eyes.  Evolution. How many seasons will it take?

Then looking through New Eyes.

What I noticed here is how the running (walking) stitch outline seems like a solid line on this side. Because I can see the stitch where it disappeared as well. Appear and disappear have become one. Now that's a new kind of magic. 

They also look like some new life form.

July's Wish is Growing

A small cloth is a bigger cloth if it holds a big thought.

"There's something happening here
What it is ain't exactly clear..."

 

Stay Home, Share, and consider When Time is not about Money

video link if you see no player above

Some of us are luckier than others. We have time to consider time. I suppose you could call that privilege. 

Time is not Money when you have enough.  Time might even be a gift.  The spell is broken, I am remembering the dream. 

Simply what Happens

The Spirit of Evolutionary Consciousness.

Changed again under the needle.

And probably will again. I witness how it happens.

This one does not lie flat. I remember when that used to bother me. It often bothers others. I guess at this point, the nature of cloth and stitch is a great source of expression for me. Part of my symbolism has become linked to how the cloth form takes shape, not just the image I create. These things are linked by process, change. The story is that.

Most likely, this factor would never be known by the observer unless mentioned. But still, there is the fact that it's there, to be seen. Felt. This Eye Heart thing, it puckers up like most circular stitching does. Cones. A result of the tension  and take up as you go round and round. There are ways to prevent it. Or to marvel in it.

 

In truth, I said to myself, it simply rises up.  It pleased me suddenly because it made so much sense suddenly. Here.   Truth Rises Up. As I age I am more aware that truth rises up. Through change. It is simply what happens. I live in sympathy with this evolution in my creative mind. 
.

I said, a day or so ago, there seemed to be no flowers here. Not so. I didn't wait long enough to see.

A loose page #91119

 

I've tried my best to repair the audio issues with Feel Free. I think it is ok.  I am in the process of proofreading to make sure all content is in order and nothing got lost.  I will reopen the site next Wednesday, and do my best to catch up and complete part 2 of Patchwork in Perspective by the end of October as planned. And then... your guess is as good as mine.  There will be, most likely, a big space. But space can be like a thread. If you hold a longer view.

 

Wishing

On the move...

Note, I may miss your emails, I'm half baked.  Just remind me if it is important.

And Inevitably

New eyes...

I have not put this one down for long in the last days. I was drawn to its unfinished after so long state of being.  It has helped to draw from the personal library of symbols I carry with me. It has helped not to try to make it anything but a record of comfort. Using it to talk to myself without words. 

Everything is changing, not because we are moving, but because everything is changing.  We do not have to go. Maybe, we were thinking, maybe just to refresh the sense of that then. Change.  When everything around you changes, it might be easier to sense what is still standing. I feel a calm in me, standing here, there.  I think of how many times in my life I have made changes, or mostly NOT, to accommodate the thoughts of others.  Maybe my parents, family or friends, teachers, even old selves.  I suddenly feel no obligation to anything but chance. And sense.  

Eyes. New Eyes give us broader vision. Perspective.  There are always new eyes, it takes practice to be ale to manage and use so many. To see without judgement.

I have many decisions to make. Deciding is a kind of sorting, packing.  In the spirit of rocking back and forth... tomorrow back to the sea, Sunday back to the mountains.  And then again as necessary.

Patchwork in Perspective , the final online sharing series, will continue through the chaos of moving.  

Part 1, Thought Catching, posting weekly on Wednesdays, will morph into What if Wednesday over time.

Part 2- Small Cloth/ Puzzle Pieces and Loose Patches is about to begin on July 1.  And let's just say it will be what it will be. I will make an introductory post on Friday.