Tangled Stitch

Today I picked up my first freeform project that I started a while back. It is an ocean with a few little added creatures. I wanted to make a purse out of it and was rather intimidated by the shape of the piece I already started. Although I have made a few thread freeform projects I still have not finished a yarn piece. I guess it's because I love to do thread work and love to fill in the spaces so I guess that makes it easier for me, but a large scale freeform project which I'm going to somehow transform into a purse kind of had me flummoxed. Freeform crochet as a very unique medium which comes from inside not so much outside. You can give Five different people 5 balls of yarn of different colors and they can all come up with something different. I don't seem to have the ease or artistry or perhaps I am just intimidated by doing a work of crochet that is specifically mine. But after working on it today I intend to finish it(sooner rather then later). I will share p...

This is another of my coop pieces. It signifies Earth Water & Fire although everytime I think about it Earth, Wind & Fire. That's the way of the world now. Actually my world is kind of rocking at the moment with a few earthquakes thrown in there just to remind me life can never be too good. I begrudgingly went to Tai Chi, realized I left my lock for the locker at home so I played hookey instead. I went to Borders and bought a really cool book about Art and Spirituality and then went to Joann's and bought a bunch of skeins of embroidery floss. I love the stuff, I might even say that I am addicted to embroidery floss lately. Then I came home and worked away the afternoon. I finished another piece but it's not framed and with my inlaws coming this weekend probably won't be framed till one day next week. I'll share it's name and a photo when finished. If you read this happy stitchin. And maybe put your old Earth Wind & Fire tunes on.

This is my blue hand framed and hanging up in the coop. It is called ocean hand. I love to hand embroider hands. To me my hands are a symbol of what I love. I use them to hand embroider. I use them to type on the computer, I use them to knit and crochet and sew. I use them to hug my son and my husband and to pet my dog. I use them to turn the pages in the books I love to read and I use them to put on the cds of the music I love to hear. I use my hands every day doing things that I love. I don't usually think about the importance of the hand. But since my topic is my blue hand I figured I should explain my fascination with them. I do quite a few shows in the local Shaker Museum near my home. I love to do them, I love the feeling of the old building. They liked to make things with their hands and with their hearts. I think my work kind of embodies that. Hands and hearts. They say a palm reader can read our lives through our hands and I think she would find that my ha...

Transformation is a hand embroidered piece that I currently have in the coop. It was part of the beginning of my transformation from craftsperson to artist. Or might I say it was one of the pieces I made that came from somewhere other then myself and tested me in ways I could not have imagined. We had a black and white show the first month that we moved into our new building. For the black and white show I did a black hole with a hand coming out of it with gold highlights. I will also share that photo on a later date when my mood fits the black hole. This is the companion piece for the black hole called transformation. We had an artist at work exhibition where we had to start a project and leave it in the coop so people could see how we transform black and white into color. Transformation was the piece that I worked on. It was amazing to see it come to life week after week. I started with the green threads and felt an overwhelming peace with each stitch that I made. Then came ...

This is my tribute to Luciani Pavarotti. I spent much of my life not listening to classical music and opera. But then again I spent much of my life not knowing I was an artist either. My dad was in a coma for 8 months 10 years ago. Needless to say it was 8 months of hell. Oddly enough I discovered Andrea Bocelli on my local PBS station and got completley engulfed in Italian Music and opera, which brought me to Luciano Pavarotti. His rendition of Nessun Dorma brings tears to my eyes. Somehow the music spoke to my soul perhaps because operas are based on sad stories of loss and it is easier to grieve in another language. To this day I love to put on an Andrea Bocelli or Three Tenors album and sing my heart out in Italian(although I don't have the foggiest idea what I am singing). I will be forever grateful for finding an outlet that speaks to my soul more then my brain. And forever grateful for the angels singing the beautiful music that sings to my soul. There have been m...

but I wanted to touch in. I have a two day craft show next weekend, I have new work needed for the coop by Wednesday and I turned in a project to teach at my local Michaels. Sometimes when we decide to live by our talents we just don't realize how bad we are at time management or should I say how bad I am at time management. Kind of hard to sit down and work when it's the last week of summer too and everyone wants to eke out their last moment of summer fun. But after next weekend I should be able to dedicate more of my life to my work and my blog. As I said I just wanted to check in(in case anybody reads this thing)so adios and I'll see you soon. Keep stitchin and keep cool under the last minute summertime rush.