The Fun Always Begins...

...with a mess or two.

...some painted Osnaburg fabric...

... some thread, some lace, some embellishments -- and a bit of anticipatory joy thrown in.  Is not the beginning of a project the very best time of all?

"To find a form that accommodates the mess, that is the task of the artist now." - Samuel Beckett

Experimenting

Yes, this mess is what comes of experimentation.  I've been spending the last week trying this and that.  Creating a 'might be' design and then 'messing' with it -- really messing with it. And making a general mess as I go along.

There were several technics that I had to explore in order to do what I want to do.  Some stitching and turning and trying and wondering.  

And I've been led me to pull out my 'embellishment' stash and start to paw through it - again thinking, wondering, trying.

This is a 'to be continued' story...

"Experimenting with your own life is the most fundamental medium we have." - Natalie Jeremijenko

Anticipation

Don't you just love the anticipation of beginning a new piece of work? 

Laying out possible fabrics, threads and embellishments (which gives me the thrill of going through my stash boxes) -- deciding whether I need more thread (of course, I always do) -- determining whether to tea stain some of the fabric -- wondering what other techniques I can use to bring this piece to life - this is the pleasant anticipation I create before actually taking those first stitches.

"So you see imagination needs noodling -- long, inefficient, happy idling, dawdling and puttering." - Brenda Ueland