Winter House

I'm sitting here in my studio awaiting the next cold weather prediction.  Of course I had to 'build' a shelter during this time - a "Winter House".

Its been very cold outside with numbers like of 1 and 3 degrees bantered about. Quite chilly for this usually temperate southern climate.  But there is hope - the smoke from the chimney at Winter House is billowing out - meaning there's a warm fire within and I daresay my warmest sweater and many cups of hot tea.

I wish for all of you warmth and safety during what has been a very challenging winter.

"But it's mind, this poem of the night,

and I just stood there, listening and holding out

my hands to the soft glitter

falling through the air.  I love this world,

but not for its answers."

From - "Snowy NIght by Mary Oliver

New Year - More Fun

I love the new year -- I see before me 365 brand spanking new days.  I know what some of them will contain (or at least I think I do) but there are so many months, weeks, days, hours ahead that its like looking at a blank slate.

My first stitchery of the new year will be 'comfortable'.  It will speak of home and safety and the lovely softness that can come upon you while drinking hot tea or cocoa on a cold, winter's day. 

"Even in winter an isolated patch of snow has a special quality." - Andy Goldsworthy 

The Best of Three Worlds

These days I'm incorporating my love of punchneedle embroidery, doll making and words into one small package (or hopefully 'packages')

I'm also learning along the way - with several missteps.  But then for me, that's always part of the play. After a brief frustration with myself, I move on, knowing a little bit more each time.

Training myself in the use of materials, especially if not traditionally used this way, is always 'interesting'.  That's the fun part.  The not-so-fun part is taking stitches out (and ruining a whole face in the process) and/or putting one piece aside and starting another to replace it because the first one did not work.  I shall persevere!

Don't lose your confidence if you slip

Be grateful for a pleasant trip

And pick yourself up, dust yourself off

Start all over again.

Jerome Kern/Dorothy Fields

Ms. Pumpkin Lady

I'd like to introduce "Ms. Pumpkin Lady".  Yes, she's late for Halloween but if a girl is going to be shown on-line she has to be absolutely ready.

So, here she is - a little bit late, but now ready to spend the remainder of Fall standing on her cauldron.

"It is never too late to be what you might have been." - George Eliot

Coming back to...

...finish up the background on this piece.  Thank you again Brenda Gervais for your lovely designs.

The most exciting thing about coming home is seeing designs all traced onto Weaver's cloth and ready for stitching.  Lots of fun hours ahead of me here.

"Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant." - Robert Louis Stevenson

More Cottages Coming

 

 

 

There seems to be a building boom going on in the neighborhood.  Another couple of cottages are popping up - or should I say 'looped' up. 

 

One is almost finished and you can see the back of it in this picture.

Both of these cottages will represent Autumn since that's the season we are in, and it just happens to be one of my favorite seasons. I've dug up a couple of rusty pumpkins to add to the ambience.

"Home is a name, a word, it is a strong one; stronger than magician ever spoke, or spirit ever answered to, in the strongest conjuration." - Charles Dickens

Making Progress

 

I'm making progress on my belt project.  Sort of dreading the whole 'put it together' finishing thing -- as I usually do. 

Meanwhile the pattern is coming along.  For those of you who might be considering punchneedle - or are new to it.  You'll notice that when you turn it over, partway through, it often looks strange.  Little loops standing there, seemingly alone, looking lost and not very attractive.

But, once the whole design is worked - it all falls into place.  No stranded loops, standing alone, but one continuous design.  Yay!

Some of you know about the great 'buckle' hunt that I've been on.  Finally success through an online store called Pacific Trimming .  Good selection at decent prices.  I will soon own several buckles, probably more than I'll ever use - but we'll see about that.

"Don't get involved in partial problems, but always take flight to where there is a free view over the whole single problem, even if this view is still not a clear one." - Ludwig Wittgenstein

Paint by Numbers

Some of you may remember the 'paint by number' kits that were a big fad way back when.  When looking for an image to post I found out that they actually still exist.  For those of you who have never heard of them - they were preprinted designs with numbers in each little section and they came with pots of paint that were numbered.  Then the 'artist' could paint the picture following the numbers.   

As I work with my cottage pictures I make a point of writing down the floss color combinations that I use in each section.  Sometimes I have to go back to fill in a section, or I change my mind and want to put a different color in a different place, or - and this is most likely - I forget after leaving the stitching for awhile whether I used two strands of one color and one strand of the other - OR one strand of the one color and two strands of the other.  Yes, it can get a little confusing.

So there I am with my little drawing filled with 351 (2), 350 (1) and on and on.  Its been a lifesaver many times -- but as I looked at one of them the other day I thought - perhaps I should destroy these afterward lest someone think I was 'stitching by numbers'!!

"A good decision is based on knowledge and not on numbers." - Plato

Naïve Art/Folk Art

       Helga Hornug

 

As I've work on my latest punchneedle embroidery designs I've been thinking about what 'kind' of 'art' I am drawn to create these days.  My own descriptors would be simple, straightforward, colorful and a little childlike in their forms.  Simplicity of the design seems very important to me, for some reason, and this simple designs definitely work well in punchneedle embroidery.

                                                                                       Marianna Grinblat

After thinking about this for a couple of days, I decided to look up the definition of both folk art and naïve art.  This is what I found:

Naïve art is a classification of art that is often characterized by childlike simplicity in its subject matter and technique.

Folk Art - art originating among the common people of a nation or region and usually reflecting their original culture especially everyday or festive items produced or decorated by unschooled artists.

                                                                          Monica Grace

I am not actually a 'naïve' person in the true sense of the work - after all, at my age if I were naïve it would mean I haven't been paying attention.  But there's no reason why my art can't reflect this tone and style.  In the end I realized that all I want is to to reflect the joy that I get from the work of my hands.  I think that will be enough of a definition for me.

"It is well for heart to be naïve and the mind not to be." - Anatole France