One Step, Two Step

I have never made a three-part punchneedle piece.  I have made multiples of the same design - but three different designs to be used on one wall hanging is new to me.

Each section must somehow blend with the other, while each having its own identity.

Exploration must be made of stitches, ways to combine, design and texture.

At this point it is two down, one to go.

"It's not just a question of conquering a summit previously unknown, but of tracing, step by step, a new pathway to it." - Gustav Mahler

Working The Design

Often, as I work, the design morphs into something else -- it can be a change of color, the 'finding' of the perfect embellishment or even the whole theme changing as I punch.  I like to think of it as a river finding a new path.  That's the thrilling part of creating - to not know until the very last stitch is taken exactly what you're going to see.

This piece involves reverse punchneedle in a couple of sections - something I've thought about but never actually tried.  If you're not familiar with the in's and out's of punchneedle -- the design is punched from the back (shown above). As I punch I see each stitch laid out much like very, very close individual stitches.  When I turn the piece over I see thick textured loops.  (the top picture is the front)

On this piece I decided to make a couple of sections using reverse punchneedle where I punch the design from the front making those individual stitches show  - does this make sense? *smile*  So now I have a pattern of flat stitches mixed in among the many textures of the loops.  I quite like it!

"Creativity can be described as letting to of certainties." - Gail Sheehy

Possibilities

Looking ahead to exploring new loop-pile embroidery pieces, I've created yet another workbook in which to collect my thoughts and ideas.

I have a workbook three-quarters of the way full of ideas, design, color and texture.  Not one picture in this little book is a loop-pile embroidery piece.  Its my goal to take bits and pieces of these ideas and make them into something of my own. 

Some of the designs, such as this one, came from a very old book on wall hangings.  I love the texture of this design - and would love to bring this type of texture into my work. 

Others, such as this one, are made of clay - no fiber involved at all.  And yet the colors, design and feeling of the piece appeal to me.  I see something like this in my mind's eye using punchneedle, fiber, found objects.

Just opening this book - gazing at each design - thinking of the possibilities before me - makes me want to put needle to hand and get to work.

"Everything that is new or uncommon raises a pleasure in the imagination, because it fills the soul with an agreeable surprise, gratifies its curiosity, and gives it an idea of which it was not before possessed". - Joseph Addison

Trapping Threads

I admire those who keep their embroidery floss in an orderly fashion -- all neatly wrapped, labeled and organized by colors, shades and dye lot numbers.  Admiration or not, I have to admit that I am not one of them.

My threads are in glass jars above my work table.  These glass jars are filled to the brim with the various threads which make up my life and my work.  Each jar contains a collection of a color selection.  All purples together, all rose/pink/coral together, all greens together, all browns together, all rusts and golds together, etc.  Its really no way to work efficiently because with each project begun I must get down the jars that will apply to my color scheme and go through each skein of floss.

BUT - that's my joy: sorting, sifting, laying out the various color dye lots.  Laying out the shades in light, dark and in between, touching the threads and comparing them for density and shade.  Deciding what I will need to add to my 'collection'.  Last but not least - filling each jar to the brim with threads that I might or might not use in the future.  Sometimes organization is not necessary at all *smile*.

"Keep some room in your heart for the unimaginable". - Mary Oliver

On My Own

As I recently mentioned -- copying someone else's design (Paul Klee for example) did not seem to work for me. I've been thinking about this over the past few days.

Although getting inspiration from others is a true gift -- copying a picture or even working directly from a pattern seems to take something away from my own creativity.  I am definitely a 'process' person - the process is what I love.  But along the way I've realized that creating the design 'on my own' is also an important factor for me.  There are a lot of punchneedle patterns from which I could choose.  It would be easy to start punching a pre-made design that has already been printed on the fabric.  It would be easy to go out and buy the threads that the pattern designer has specified - or even easier to buy a pattern that comes complete with the threads.  But for me, that would take most of the 'fun' out of it.

I don't consider myself an 'artiste' -- but I do like to dabble in the art of making original designs.  How much fun would it be if everything was there in front of me and all that I had to do was punch?  I love drawing the designs (sometimes over and over again) and picking out colors that seem to represent the design in ways that reflect my own thoughts.  I love having to run over to Sandy's X-stitch to pick up the colors that I run out of - or to find new colors to experiment with. 

In my past lives I have often used patterns -- I could no more sew a shirt or cross-stitch a picture without a pattern.  I have depended on the creativity of others all through my life.  I love it that I am at a stage now whereby I pick up a piece of paper and start to draw; I see a thread that I know I must incorporate into a design; I get halfway through something and completely change the whole pattern.  This is freedom and I'm loving it.

"There is something in every one of you that waits and listens for the sound of the genuine in yourself.  It is the only true guide you will ever have.  And if you cannot hear it, you will all of your life spend your days on the ends of strings that someone else pulls". - Howard Thurman

"Light and Shadows" Heart

I've completed another heart - this time calling it "Light and Shadows".  The fibers that I recently acquired made this story easy to tell.  I couldn't resist combining the Wildflower shade of 'winter wheat' with warm gold and soft lavender.  As I punched this heart it seemed to speak to me of canyon walls with their warmth and the depths of the shadows within.  The button in the center (which unfortunately reflects light so that you aren't getting a true picture of its color and richness) looks like a glazed tile piece - also in a rich, warm gold color. 

I'd love to know what you see when looking at this design?

"Shadow is a colour as light is, but less brilliant; light and shadow are only the relation of two tones". - Paul Cezanne

Soft and Warm

These fiber packs arrived recently - colors of gold, grey, purple.  The gold is the color of tobacco leaves, a deep, warm tea, or perhaps an old, expensive brandy.  The grey is the color of fog, mist, a soft cat, a favorite warm sweater.  The purple is the color of mountains in the distance, a royal cape all draped and rich, an iris blooming in the garden.

I love both the way the grey softens the purple, the way the deep gold warms the grey. Today I'm  busy creating a 'light and shadows' heart with these threads and feeling both their warmth and their richness as I punch and stitch.  

"Such lovely warmth of thought and delicacy of colour are beyond all praise, and equally beyond all thanks!" - Marie Corelli

"Love Letters" - Heart

This latest heart was inspired by my earlier thoughts on hand written letters.  The colors seem to reflect the colors of summer - aqua blue and lavender all blended together. As I worked this piece I also thought about the contrast between using a punchneedle to create loop-pile embroidery and using my needle and thread to create traditional embroidery.  Punching in and out is 'physical' - not difficult, not intrusive but there is the in and out motion over and over again.  Once start embroidering the felt for the back of heart I begin a very quiet, almost still movement.  I like it because as the end of the project approaches, I'm working with silent, slow, movement across the cloth.  It seems a perfect way to end each piece.

"How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of being and ideal grace.
I love thee to the level of every day's
Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light..." - 

Elizabeth Barret Browning

"Journey" - Heart

This heart became what it is in spite of any preconceived ideas that I had.  I began with the spiral button.  You probably already know that I love spirals - a circle that is open - never closed, always moving (just as hearts should be).

As I worked, the whole 'planned' color scheme changed - more toward 'jewel' tones than I had planned.  The design spaces also lost the boundaries that I had originally planned for them.  My lesson learned is that no journey, not even a thread journey, should be overly planned.

"What you are comes to you." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Looking Within"

What if I put the key in the door?  What if I turn the key?  What if I actually look within to see what is there?  Do I hesitate to open the door or do I turn the key and hope for wonders and magic.  I'm on the side of opening it - of looking within to see what is there.  I may like it, or I may not like it - but how will I know unless I look?

This heart is 5-1/2" long x 4-3/4" at its widest.  For some reason I am drawn to rose and green these days.  Perhaps it is the time of the year, perhaps I'm just becoming a romantic.

The back is embroidered felt -- I love working with felt, don't you? 

And here I'm sending along x's and o's just for each of you.

"Nobody has ever measured, not even poets, how much the heart can hold". - Zelda Fitzgerald

From the Heart

I'm off on a new adventure - loop-pile embroidery-wise that is.  Recently Jude posted on her work with hearts - it seemed to be a healing time for her and of course her work is beautiful.  I had been thinking about working with the heart shape but a little voice kept saying 'its been done over and and over again'.  But then I thought, perhaps its been done so many times because it is a symbol that each of us can relate to.  Its our center, the core of our being.  Its our life force and symbolizes all that is good about us.  With those thoughts in mind I thought I'd play around a little.

Anytime I start a new project there are all the "what-ifs" to go through and the mundane questions like 'how big should it be', 'what do I really want to convey with this subject', 'how will it work with loop-pile embroidery'.  The planning began!

One of the first things that I did was to paw through my 'found objects', buttons, and 'junque' collections.  This is when I got really excited about the heart concept and the possibilities that might be before me.  Drawings have been made, patterns transferred to cloth and punching begun.  The most important piece of any fiber work (in my mind) is that my heart goes into it also.  That the time spent is time of gratitude and peace and joy -- let's see how this goes...

"Observe the wonders as they occur around you. Don't claim them. Feel the artistry moving through and be silent.” - Rumi

"Desert Dreaming"

I began work on this bird after we got home from the desert.  The colors used, seem to reflect what I saw while out in that wild world.  Do you think this guy is waiting to fly off to the west, back to where he'll blend in well?

I experimented with his top-knot - by using loop levels of 10 and 11.  Now I know what those loops look like and they certainly made a good head dress!

"It is not only fine feathers that make fine birds". - Aesop

Serendipity

Before leaving on vacation, I picked up a novel to take along with me.  The title is 'Isabel's Daughter' by Judith Ryan Hendricks.  The book is set in the New Mexico desert and the fact that I would be in the desert while reading it added to its appeal. 

The book centers around a young woman trying to discover her past and her mother who had abandoned her.  Her mother was a mixed media artist creating fabric collages.  One of the descriptions of her work included several techniques including photo transfer, beadwork, silk ribbon embroidery and loop-pile embroidery.  As I read the words 'loop-pile embroidery' I wondered if that couldn't be another name for punchneedle work.  I jumped onto the computer and found a listing for Missy Stevens wherein she describes her work as 'loop-pile embroidery' done with a punchneedle. 

Missy Stevens

How I love this description - so much better than punchneedle.  Loop-pile embroidery paints a picture in my mind of what I'm doing - the word punchneedle is more a word for the tool I use. 

I love it when something randomly wonderful comes my way - like a used book, which contains a new-to-me description of what I do, that leads to finding the lovely work of another artist.  Serendipity at its best!

"Serendipity - the faculty for making desirable but unsought-for discoveries by accident."

"Spring Garden"

This spring has brought a riot of color to our yard.  It seems that nature determined to give us a spring in which everything bloomed at the same time.  It is almost difficult to keep track of each new bloom as I walk out the door every morning.

Of course, I had to put this into loop-pile embroidery form.  The colors of the azalea, rhododendron, columbine, irises, roses, dahlias, lupine have all become part of this mix-up of spring color.

Working on this piece is not only a study in color but in loop heights.  I went as high in some places as level 5.  What fun this was - to transfer what I was seeing outside to something tangible inside.
"Everything is blooming most recklessly; if it were voices instead of colors, there would be an unbelievable shrieking into the heart of the night". ~Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters of Rainer Maria Rilke