Studio Notes no. 218

New stitches & stories

Hello Everyone,

I hope you are well. It’s early but the sun is already very warm and soon I’ll have to put the blinds down in the attic. We are bracing ourselves for a heatwave, predicted to last for several days ahead. The last heatwave hit us in May and it was then I promised myself the next time we get very hot weather I will put a pause on painting for a few days and focus on stitching. I struggle in the heat, especially as I am working on my health at the moment. Also, the room I paint in gets particularly hot. So stitch is now my focus and I have been looking again at projects that have been quietly brewing.

Since Margery’s retirement (Margery my sewing machine) I have done a lot of thinking and hand stitching. I always new that when the time came I would probably want to shift my focus to hand stitch, but I also knew I would need time to consider new approaches. This has needed more time than anticipated, with many false starts on things, ideas coming and waning - all part of how things will evolve.

I am fortunate to have a good selection of inspiring books in my home library, including these titles. I look at books often, preferring to go right back to much older sources for inspiration.

And whilst I find the work of past needleworkers and makers very inspiring, I also know whatever I choose to make must be made in my own way and character.

And so it seems these rabbit figures have come to visit - this spring I was not in the traditional rabbit mood at all. Birds dominated my paintbrush. But now the rabbits have evolved and with the rust and frayed skirts, have inspired me think of combining them with patchwork. All very unpolished, in a good way. I dyed some of these fabrics a few months back, not knowing what I would use them for exactly. It just seemed the right thing to do at the time. I’ve always had stock of naturally dyed fabrics - I use mostly onion skins, teas, other tannin dyes like oak galls - and modify with iron using old keys. It’s all contained in jars and nothing on a large scale, dyeing snippets of this and that.

I also have bags and bags of scrap fabrics from years of doll-making and patchwork projects. I like to make patchwork cloths and they sometimes become quilts, but often I prefer them as cloths. Applique is something that I enjoy but have not explored in any big way. I was fortunate to go to a girls’ comprehensive school that took needlework seriously and was part of the curriculum, with extra clubs and classes too. Although I always struggled with dressmaking (I took a whole term to put a zip into a ra-ra skirt) I did enjoy hand embroidery and tapestry.

And here are the rabbits beginning to find their home in a patchwork composition - with still more stitching to do. I look forward to working on this soon and hope I will have it completed soon.

I wonder now would Mrs Challis, my needlework teacher, approve of all that I have stitched over the years?

Not all rabbits - I feel the need to stitch figures but some of them will have hats rather than long ears. Here is a lady in progress (aren’t we all) who waits patiently for further layers of skirt and legs, and possibly some suggestion of arms.

And the french knots are not forgotten. They have been put to one side whilst painting took so much of my energy and time. But now with the heatwave stitching commencing, there will be more work on brooches. I especially enjoy playing with colour, even the brighter colours if mixed with dark and pale. As much as I like stitching birds and flowers in knots, I always find myself going back to the circles. Knots are made for them.

Shop News

I hope to have a selection of new stitched work in my shop this coming Wednesday, 24th June at 7pm UK time - I will be previewing everything from 4pm.

I’ll also be including a few new works on paper including this new painting -

Midsummer Poem - 21cm x 21cm - gouache on watercolour paper

Another in my series of poetry-inspired paintings.

There is a link to my shop at the end of these notes.

New Writing

I have three short story pieces for you this week. I was pleased so many of you enjoyed the ‘broken biscuits’ story last week. It’s always good to get your thoughts and thanks always for reading.

Milk

The young woman and her friend are seated outside a coffee shop. There is a pram parked by the young woman who wears dark glasses and a pale smile. She is feeding a sachet of milk to the occupant of the pram. There are actually two inside, twins. A perfect pair of long-haired beige cats strapped into the pram. They lick at the milk sachet with delicate tongues. The young woman says He asks me: are you a cat or a dog person. She tips her head back to laugh. The cats stare at her long white throat.

**

Sleeves

I take the black dress from a heap of clothes. It is creased but yes, as I remember it. Cutting the sleeves might work. I find appropriate scissors though they are a little blunt. Once the sleeves are cut I check to see if the job has been done with any accuracy. The dress will be fine once I turn and stitch cut edges. Perhaps an hour’s work and then a new dress will be here. She already feels lighter, of course, freer. It made sense at the time to cut the sleeves and I hope I will look back and remember this was a good rash moment. The long sleeve pieces can journey on, become the lining of a bag, the skirt of a doll? I am glad for the sleeves and all their possibilities.

**

The Eyes

He tells me about the peacock. The thing is, he says, I never knew they could fly. So it took a while to spot it in the tree.

We both agree it’s more usual to see a peacock wandering about on a lawn. On a vanity mission. You don’t usually see them in a tree, he continues. I’ve never seen one up high in a branch, so it took me a while to spot it sitting there. The eyes did it, he says. Not the feather eyes but the actual eyes of the bird, staring down. Beady eyes amongst the leaves.

I wait for the rest of the story, how this peacock may have descended upon him. But he shakes his head and, as if sparing me something more, changes the subject to pigeons.

**

Two recent drawings made for my ‘lucky dip’ series. I am very grateful to everyone who has purchased a drawing or two, much appreciated. I’ll be continuing to draw in the days ahead - drawing is so portable and I don’t doubt I’ll be taking my pencils to an air-conditioned coffee shop a few times this week coming…..

Thanks always for reading here. Please do leave a comment and say hello. Paid subscribers receive additional midweek notes most Thursdays.

A coffee is always welcome