Three makes a statement. It goes a bit further than two.
Three has a center. Three can make a line. A path. Alignment. Three might become.
Three jars that need labels.
Three pots waiting to become po(ets).
Three Sisters becoming more. They seem like that today. I tried 3 times to give this away, this cloth piece I made during Thought Catching. The giveaway. Three drawings, three emails and then some. I did not hear back, perhaps it took me too long to get to finishing, I am too slow sometimes. Folks disappear. Change emails. But giving can have many paths. And I feel this one has me on another. What if(?) I put this one in the shop soon. 100% of the funds to go to a good friend in India (some of you know Maura), who does great work with children. I know she tells them the truth. And I can think of way more than 3 reasons that this is a better idea. Let this one symbolize a Circle of Selflessness. That's a thought.
What if I make this a habit? Giving more. We might be in it together. IF, While we can.
And then thinking about Fall. Leaves Fall. But leaves are let go to make room for new leaves.
Our sweet Michelle gave me this little hoop. I played with this photo. I highlighted what might be held by this small gift. And I added a garden layer, the season. Fading.
I say to myself, the layering in photos, as well as digital drawing, can be a tool, for helping form evolve in my story cloth. But then too, tools need to be an extension of those who use them. That is the complexity in the relationship.
Some stitching then, continued from here, yesterday, but more realizing again, how the nature of cloth, it's flexibility, how cloth is like clay, like breath, like extension of self.
It's been a while since I focused on selling my stitched work. It is everywhere here.
Because I like that really, being surrounded by the history of process.
It's time to let some stuff go. I sell/offer the work that is closest to me in order to share something deeper about self and process, maybe just the time it took. And I sell stuff when I need to. When I need money, when I need to clear my head. And clear some space. Right now there is a little bit of all of that going on. I will be closing the Spirit Cloth shop. I left that place for larger works but I doubt I will ever let them go. Or finish them even. Supplies and Small Stitched Works will be available in the ThreadCrumbs Shop. I think I will skip a lot of the official announcing of shop updates. Perhaps just a whenever dribble might work at this point. Just stop by if you are curious. I do an occasional shout out on Instagram and Facebook. But not here really. Let this just be about the going.
Selling can be confusing. Especially pricing. I have often been "accused" of selling myself short. It is important for you to know that this selling thing is more about sharing than what I might deserve. Sharing is what I do. The best I can. Because I can. I put a lot out there. I feel good about it, even though some days I find myself disappointed in how others behave in the context of my sense of community... Sharing openly takes trust. I do not ask for much. And I don't like much that I need to put this here again, but after some shitty stuff this week, here it is:
Some days I can't keep my cool. I get knocked off balance. I think perhaps, well I would like to believe, that most hurtful stuff happens in some innocent way. Still, misunderstanding can never be prevented/resolved without dialog (we might say that about everything). I just recorded a rant to relieve some stress, but then I remembered a calmer time during PatchWork in Perspective-part 1 when I was Thought Catching and addressed a question about the copying issue with more composure. And I listened and I said what I still might say.
Here is a video link if you see no player above. Videos from this series are not public but I opened this one because it seemed to fit to the day. Of course some of you were right there.
I altered these photos with a filter to make them look worn. I put a few pieces together on the wall. The ones within reach. When I do this, it is an exercise in probability. They will probably fit together. That is my Seeing theory... if I remain true to my vision. And then, you know, even if they are "new" they always seem like something ancient when they are put together as one. The filter was used to emphasize that. They are just pinned over the cloth I call A DEEP Pool of Thought.
Last night I unfolded Holding Pattern. I am holding and will be holding this one now. It is a gift for My Son and The Woman, and I want to finish it before the end of the year. I have been working on it for so long, it is an old cloth.
So now, just quilting, while I wait for a new computer.
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.
Here we are in May but really, it's almost June. Imagine that.
The road in now. Or out, from here. We need to trim the branches on the right, the small pear tree is getting too much shade. We've a mix of Maple, Elm and Oak here. Heavier on the Maple. Haven't spotted any Walnut yet. It's going to rain lightly all day.
I covered the foundation, didn't take long really, and then just light basting. Enough for now. If I didn't want to take it further or didn't have the time...a backing, a little quilting and an edge and poof, a baby would have a blanket. Right? It is very close to UseFull. Gift-able.
Or if Mommy, or Daddy(why not?) were stitchers, they might continue. Right? Probably they would be too busy, but hey. The quilt as a base. It can be that. Became that to me anyway. That is how it started.
Baffled once again, because that pile of green seems unstoppable, are there elves leaving cloth in the still of the night? I am going to make another green quilt base. Try another way. There are so many.
Unplugging now, some quieter time. Outside in the light rain, planting.
Enjoying such a beautiful and peaceful day, when so many are suffering through all this chaos.
Internet didn't matter yesterday.
We are living a simple life here. Not spending ANY money, except food. Doing small repairs ourselves, facing things we cannot fix. Or change. Eating simple home-cooked food. A glass of cheap wine not as often as before. We found grapes growing here, maybe we can make our own. Just being here, appreciating the space around us. We did notice on this first warm day, our neighbors are quite noisy. TV and loud music on the porch through the trees. Two young teens at home. Maybe I would need TV too. So tolerance is on my mind lately. They are not my style, but friendly, and just doing their thing to get through. People, just going, living, making do. I guess these sounds could seem like music in the context of these times.
I hung a small cloth on the porch after dinner, after a long day trimming brambles away from grapevines and hauling dead wood under the porch for cutting. These will be my new walls. Even though it seems there will be a couple of colder weeks still ahead. Since I mostly work thin I will be looking through small cloth instead of at it. As I look to make it larger. Large cloth tends to get thicker and heavier as it becomes a blanket. I'm think about Not That.
I'm at a loss when it comes to organizing my teaching this time around. So I am just going. And I am thinking that is good enough. Not teaching really, going, as an example. I don't care what I end up with, it'll be something, even if it is a dream. It's all the same really at this point. Finding a piece of cloth, or sewing bits of cloth together, with the intent to make something useful. Continuing to find ways to hold it together. Using it as a thought catcher, a shelter, a way to understand something about something.
The Lion Quilt was my first "spirit Cloth". Going to talk about that one first. Because it contains my innocence about cloth making, among other things. And it was a gift. To me.
So here I am. Here we are. The thing is, this time around, I do not actually know who you are, do I? I can guess but can only know part of the story... who are my travelling companions? There are some old friends who I know are here, some older friends who I know lurk in the background, some new folks who have kindly donated so I assume they are following but I think there might be quite a few here that will remain nameless and invisible. I understand invisible. I am, in real life, shy and introverted for the most part. Unless I drink too much. Oh ha! (the big laugh for today).
This picture below is an old photo. December 2006. Shortly after I began this blog.
I altered it a bit, removing the background, perhaps just to change the context or simply to extract what was important to me. How did I do that? I used my phone actually, which has a pen, and allows me to erase on a photo, which is actually just drawing with white. Just saying that in case you wondered.
And then another, below, from I think, 2011.
I think during the Magic Diaries. That class was about big cloth. And some of you, I know, were there.
So I guess this is my beginning. Thinking about larger cloth. Big Cloth as just bigger cloth, and as a bigger picture. Nothing much is going to happen quickly here. Today I am reflecting on big cloth and it's relationship to holding, being held and gift giving which seems to be a way to transfer the sense of those things.
So yes, tomorrow I will do some big cloth storming. Thought catching. Once you begin dreaming, asking yourself questions, one thing leads to another.
I made the text a bit larger at the request of a few folks.
Feel Free is down for a few days as I make a few changes, then links to part 1 and 2 will be here in the side bar.
I may post more than once a day or I may not post every day. As it happens is what it is.
Some asked how to donate, the link is here on the blog, you don't see that in the email post.
I have created a HUNKER DOWN category to group these posts and will list them in order on another page once I get started. Blogs as you know, run backwards, it's nice to have an ordered list.
Forgive my typos, I am terrible at proofreading.
I am happy to begin.
OH! it's important to note that if you subscribe to the email notification for posts, you must confirm your subscription. You should receive the confirmation email and you must complete the process or you will not receive my posts. I notice often that folks subscribe and forget to verify, and therefore are not subscribed. So check your email.
Cleaning out the fridge, some forgotten carrots, seemed dead. Not. Joy!
After my rant yesterday, some of the "have less" folks here expressed an offer to donate. Let me say here, that one of the best parts about this circle is that we all understand have and have not and we take care of each other. As some have already donated, you who have found yourself in a struggle need not worry. I am sure these hard times will create more of us. None of us can really know. My donation is to be here because I can, my needs only include the cost of supporting the required technology to continue, which varies with the wind. We will not know how our true needs will evolve in these times. Honesty is all we have to work with. As I have said before, I sell stuff when I need help. I adjust my prices to what I need. That's how it works. When I ramp up the shop, I am sending a signal. If I seem like I am giving stuff away, it is because I can. It's all about gift giving to me anyway, donating, selling, buying, even teaching. I've never been a fan of this "what an artist deserves" idea. Counting the hours, including packing and shipping etc. I want to trust in what you ask for is what you need. I think it should be like that. Not raising prices because you can. Like, again, toilet paper! Food! Medicine! MF sons of bitches(sorry).
Anyway, be who you can be. And it will be ok. At least better than it might be.
Typepad, the web host here, continues to have issues. But I am going to stick with them. If I am not here or you encounter password protection, it is probably just a temporary glitch. You can email me to be sure. But be reassured I will be back.
The car is ok. The guy couldn't find anything wrong, tightened some cables etc, but it starts. Not dead he said, it'll happen when it happens. Call me. How much do I owe you? Nuthin'. Gave him some cash. Because I can. Can the world be like this? Hope so.
