where stuff happens

This little mouse came to me from Steph during the DBM episode. She said I needed to get in touch with my inner mouse! It has now found its true role in life, as indicator of my having decamped to "The Workshop" - the idea being that I place it on the dining table where the Good Man cannot miss it.

"The Workshop" is our garage, never used for cars, with the addition of a very fine sink, a water heater, some random furniture, a print bench, and two skylights for natural light

The rug in front of the sink was hooked by Mum back in the early 1960s to her own design which sat in front of her gas fire all of my life. It is now sadly on it's last legs, but gives me a soft spot to stand when working there and is a link to her. Our coastline hangs on the wall, four pathfinder maps laminated to a large board, so I know where I am in case I get lost - a project from many years ago. Some ancient mirrors and one of Jen's GCSE artworks, also from long ago give the end where the garage doors are some interest.

Looking the other way, there is a door to the back garden, which means I can go in and out from the back of the house. There are shelves and cupboards for storage, and I am beginning to get things organised

In the corner by the garage door is my ponder spot, two chairs of Cecil's, one an upright beautifully caned chair, the other a little low legged upholstered chair which used to sit by her bed and hold her clothes ready for the morning. Again, I have known it all my life and it is another link to deeply loved people. Here it is, still holding clothes, but this time my workshop apron and clothkits smock

On the bench in the foreground is one of my Coronavirus project pieces, the textures I was collecting from the garden to reflect activities that have been part of our isolation experience. I did further rubbings yesterday and have now added a new layer of dye.

The other place that "stuff" happens is here. In theory it is the spare bedroom. In reality it is my sewing and "whateverothercraftactivityI'mdoing" room. Yes it is a bit of a muddle, but I know where everything is (honest)! One of Nanya's oil paintings hangs above the fireplace.

I can sit and plot and design and cut out stuff, and baste things together at the table (another piece of Cecil furniture). I can clamp my little tapestry loom to it's edge (yes, I'm tapestry weaving again) to do a bit of weaving, and on the table behind me is my sewing machine to stitch things together. The room is south facing, so again plenty of natural light to see by.

I am thankful every day that I have these places to retire to and explore the various creative activities that bring me joy - I know that many have much less. I am thankful too for the network of folk who share these interest with me. In particular Christine's wonderful transferral of Studio 11 to an online space has encouraged me to really make use of my garage-workshop. It has been a long time coming, but walking in there every day, turning some music on and using the things I have gathered together over the years to explore the current Studio11 projects is a huge pleasure.

I hope you too are finding time for creativity in the these strange lockdown days

Practice too

One of the pleasures of Christine's classes is the lunch time discussion. Last time we talked about the benefits of using sketchbooks and also a daily practice like 1 year of stitches. In both you take yourself out of, analytical, active rational brain mode, which tends to predominate in our day to day lives, and relax into doing and being mode. We talked about the way this sort of practice can release creativity. One of our class members was very dubious so it's got me thinking about it as I stitch or weave. What is happening here?

I would liken it, in part, to the hours spent practicing scales, arpeggios, five finger excercises and then my pieces, when I learnt the piano. I think in part you are developing muscle memory; allowing your body to do just this thing, whatever it is, without thinking about the why. You are being with your needle and thread, piano keys, the shading in this bit of the sketch, these colours of weft and the rhythm of the weave. You are getting into the zone.

But the other thing that is happening is that the act of doing allows the subconscious to make associations: it resembles when you're trying to remember something, and the minute you stop trying it pops into your head, or a day later, or the following week. The trying can act as a block, but in doing, you are opening yourself to the possibility of something, without worrying about what.

With my tapestry weaving, still very much in its infancy, I am just watching what happens as I work. My fingers are learning the shape of the weft on the loom, my eyes are absorbed in colour and form, I have a sort of plan, but mostly I am learning how to do that thing; how to make shapes, to change colours, to put colours together.

So, having noticed that my weaving wasn't covering the warp threads, I loosened out my tension, creating "bubbles" to allow the yarn to flex at round the warp, shown here before beating down.

Then I realised that my weaving was putting on weight, a diet was needed. I had begun with three colours, one thread of each, to allow a level of refinement in the shading ....... however

So I cut down to two colours on the go at a time, with the odd insertion of a single pass, or half pass in a different colour, just to see what will happen.

And meanwhile the sort of design, shady in the back of my mind, continues to emerge

Likewise, with my stitching ......

Tapestry Update

Once a month the little group of us from Sussex Stitchers still get together to do our bit of weaving. You'll remember I started with this - which has a few nice bits, but is basically about learning various techniques. 

I enjoy the colours, and they have a relationship with the photo collage that I started with, but the forms are uneven and don't relate to the design.

"Life is for learning"

Here is where my current piece has got to - shown upside down, as that will be the orientataion when it comes off the loom.

loosly based on the Nazar symbol, but there will be more below. Shapes symbolic of house and home if I have the space.

I'm rather pleased with it so far, though looking at the bottom, lighter area, I can see that I need to rework it to cover the warp better. I either need to loosen the tension on my weft thread or use a slightly narrower weft. I'll see which works, and refer you to the quote above :-)

still here

just quiet for a while, but still doing when health permits ....

a total change of direction, though I am still stitching as well, and had my first session at Studio11 this month.

These are from way back in 2011, the year after Mum died.

Looking back now, I realise they were worked during March and April, the year she would have been 85. March was her birth month.

They have been brought back out again, and finshed, in response to some weaving classes we're having with Claire Buckly. The bamboo is fresh from the garden - cut today, the warp knotted round - still some trimming to do.

A little smidge of we embroiderers have got together and are learning about small scale tapestry weaving - on a frame loom, at Steph's house. Claire's teaching is quite different from the course I did in 2011, so I'm glad I have a little bit of the basics to start from, and can learn more.

We assembled last Monday, five of us ready to learn. We warped up our looms, we tore up strips of paper and made a collage,

we were allowed to choose six balls of weaving yarn, to tone with this

We've made butterflies, little bundles of neat yarn to pass in and out of the warp. and learnt about colour blending - using a sewing cotton, for example, to nudge the base colour one way or the other

We are preparing designs to weave. Next time we will design, based on the collage each of us has done.

Now I have the fun of thinking about how to translate this into a woven piece. Quite a different mood

Sorry I've not been here xx

Saturday Weaving

And today is my last class, so here is what has happened so far.

This is the first attempt, now severed from the frame and waiting for me to do something creative with the fringe top and bottom. It's a bit skew wiff here and there, but I'm very happy with the middle section and in this picture all the visible warp threads where Ii ended up in the wrong shed are quite INvisible, which is a good thing.

Then, with this still on the frame, I warped up a bit of space at the side of this one to try out some techniques from Kirsten Glasbrook's very useful book. I think her work is inspirational, her use of colour and the subjects of her tapestries intrigue me and make me want to practice and practice until I can at least try and do something similar. Her book is a really useful guide to techniques, with plenty of clear pictures of "here's how to ..." and some lovely pictures of her own work at the end to draw you forward.

So far I have managed this, which is not a great deal. but what there is pleases me.

Today, our last class, I am going to try and get this finished and warp up for a larger piece to give me more space to experiment.

Meanwhile, my knitting and my other bits of stitching are taking a bit of a back seat.

As my school reports always said - should try harder!!!

gradually growing

This is where my little tapestry is now.

Next class tomorrow. I'm worrying that I shouldn't have done so much, will look like a show off, will have done it all wrong and all that silly nonsense, but the activity is so fulfilling I just kept going. To begin with I was just trying out stuff; how does this colour weave in with this? why have I got two warp threads above the weft and how do I fix it? what happens when things meet and merge? But gradually the  rhythm of weaving takes over; in out in out, then easy through on the way back; colours blend and I felt the need for something planetary at the heart of the piece. I have a stash of yarns that I must have bought a good ten years ago as they "might come in useful"! They have been moved with me several times and cost all of £1.75 for a goodly pile of different colours and different lengths, all off cuts from something or other, found in a craft shop and perfectly suited to someone who is trying out some thing new but would be worried about using anything "too good" for that trying out. The shades are soft and natural and gradually this warm sun-like shape emerged. I had in mind sunsets and Jupiter. My dear one, who grew up in Africa says it is a perfect African sun sinking on the horizon. So be it. I shall take that thought and try and weave more warmth and light into it, but also darks, as without the night we have no balance or rest.

The fruits of Labour!

Remember I said I'd made a pile of rubbish? Here's all that dead stuff waiting to be burnt or shredded or whatever we decide to do with it - this is the stuff that didn't go in the wheelie bin, now crammed to the brim. Here is where all the edible stuff will be grown one day, with a base for a greenhouse in the right hand corner for magic propagation mysteries. Just beyond is the badger's dell where, this morning, had you been watching you would have seen three middle aged ladies peering dolefully at Badger Citadel from whence a mournful deep underground barking was echoing! "Oscar", a very important name for a rather small and grubby (when he finally emerged) West Highland terrier from several doors down, had been expeditioning beyond both his territory and his ageing hearing. I was alerted to his presence when an increasingly desperate wailing, which had been going on for some time, finally penetrated my absorption in my new hobby - of which more later! Having established that Oscar was far from home and causing his owners some anguish, a rescue party was assembled and said Oscar, after some more piercing shouting and whistling, finally appeared, with a great heave and struggle, from the deep underground, thoroughly pleased with himself and no longer very white!

Since I had been drawn from indoor pursuits, I spent several happy hours in the garden. More winter detritus was cleared and more little sprouting things found. As the sun slowly moved down in the sky I lay on my sun warmed seat and soaked up those rays, really warm despite the occasional chilly breeze. Then did a slow walk round with my camera, taking note of the lovely things that are appearing everywhere.

 

It is such s pleasure to scrape back moss and thatch, leaves and scruff, to find little pockets of geranium, primrose and crocus,

while the soft shell pink of the bergenia just needs the evening light to bring out its beauty

This ground has been neglected for some years, yet still underground there were roots, bulbs, corms, networks of living matter silently waiting for spring.

The vivid green shoots above are nestled under this rhododendron whose moss covered bole gives me such pleasure I want to stoop down and stroke it each time I pass. there was one solitary snowdrop at its base earlier last month.

But before I went out, this is what was so deeply absorbing me

I allowed myself to try the weaving class and am fascinated.