September BJP - "Betwixt"

The word that appeared for my September BJP is 'betwixt'.  The definition (which in my dictionary is aligned with 'betwixt and between') is: Betwixt -neither one nor the other in a middle position.  Balanced - centered.

I'm not so sure about how balanced and centered I am (although I do try) - but I find myself in the middle position these days.  I teeter back and forth between encrusted beading and regular embroidery.  And so, this month's bookmark has a little of each form.  I used one of my favorite encrusted beaded embroidery stitches - half-pekinese to block off sections of embroidered French knots.  I used satin stitches top and bottom and interspersed them with tiny squares of delicas. 

When I saw this background fabric I fell in love with it - and here it is ushering us into Autumn with its glorious warm colors.

This month's bookmark seemed to go together effortlessly which made it a pleasure to create.

"Learning never exhausts the mind". - Leonardo da Vinci

My Little Space

I'm not sure which season keeps me inside my studio more -- winter, with the cold air and snow or summer, with the heat and humidity.  I'm so lucky!!!  I have a wonderful space in which to sit day after day and do what I love - stitching, stitching, stitching.  A place that keeps me warm in the winter and cool in the summer. 

So here is my worktable in all its messy glory!  This is my nest, my solitude and my solace.  I have little dishes all over the top of the table in which bits and pieces of collected items sit waiting to inspire me.  I only allow the things I love to grace this space -- no bills are allowed, no to-do lists, not even bad thoughts.  This is where creating is supposed to take place, where ideas are supposed to thrive and this is where I seat myself almost each and every day to make 'stuff'.  Sometimes I feel like a hermit -- and then I know that I need to get away from this table, at least for a bit, to soak up inspiration in other places.

Where are those other places?  Art galleries (or any place else where art is exhibited), fabric and fiber shops (oh the colors and textures and patterns), lunch with a creative friend (good food can be considered inspirational).  After getting out I am usually ready to get back to 'work' - did I say work?  Of course not - I am not only lucky to have such a wonderful space in which to ply my trade -- but I'm also lucky to be able to play, play, play.

What are you playing with today?

"If you carry your childhood with you, you never become older". - Tom Stoppard

A Joyful Mess

As summer settles in around us - I am sequestered in my studio playing, playing, playing.  I'm making messes and am enjoying it so very much.  With time floating around me and very little that I have to attend to I'm letting my imagination take me where it wants to go.

I love not having deadlines or feeling that I have to be working.  I have inventory on hand for an upcoming show so I don't feel compelled to be churning out work.  My new thrust is to create some new-to-me beaded figures using beaded faces and/or embroidered faces.  I've practiced with both and am about to the point where I think I can dive in and actually create something I can live with.

Another goal that I have is to create some new-to-me body patterns and shapes and designs.  The process for this is very time consuming -- everything has to be just right --I have to decide how the all important head is going to be placed before I design the body-- I have to know whether the figure is going to hang or stand or sit or walk (just kidding about the walking)!

And so, I have these long summer afternoons ahead of me -- surrounded by fabric and scissors, thread, needle and beads and I'll be whiling each day away - making a joyful mess.

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