Tangled Stitch

Today was the first time in a month that I went to my tai chi class and I realized just how much I have learned about Tai Chi and myself in the past year. I am completely unblocked. I think the madness of the past few weeks has made me deal with issues from my childhood and now I am free. I went out of my comfort zone and felt pretty much uncomfortable for the last year, but now I can look at it and say I did something I never would have dreamed possible, so now anything is possible. I like me, the forty something, chubby lady with the newly cut short hair I lived with till I tried to change it. The woman who loves embroidery and thinks it speaks to her soul. The friend who talks to much about herself and owes her friends an eternal debt of gratitude. An artist, not an accidental one but a real one. And a person who has been to hell in my life and back. A survivor. I am really grateful for all the lessons of the last year that made the preceding paragraph easy to write. It...

Ok what happens when a 40 something decides she wants to get her work out to the new world. She starts a blog and gets to it? Nah, she surfs the net all afternoon checking out all the clever artsy blogs she can find. Although I did manage to get some well deserved work out of the way and did a little cleaning most of my time has been spent going from blog to blog (using those fantastic links on blogs) seeing how many people can inspire me. It seems many people can inspire me(now if I can just ignore them and get back to work). I've never realized just how wonderful the blogosphere can be. It gives us a way to share our souls and our work and our ambitions. What we are grateful for, how many people are sick in our household, the latest piece we've been working on. Being an artist is a very solitary life. I kidded with my friend Emily that I am becoming a recluse(ok so maybe only partially kidding)and pretty soon I would start wearing pajamas all day(ok, so no pajamas bu...

I am just filled with gratitude today. I am eternally grateful for the variety and color of my favorite embroidery thread. I am eternally grateful for my son who I love more then life itself. I am eternally gratefull that he does not have mono, it was just a virus. I am eternally grateful that I am free of my obligations to the place where I learned so much. I really am eternally grateful for the opportunity to have been there for to realize that one is truly an artist is the best gift in life. The ability to self express is wonderful even when it is painful. I realize how much of a gift this ability is because for so much of my life my self expression was closed off even to myself. Now I can look at the most ordinary piece of work and see all the little details which I love so much. Even all the messy little details of my life and the past year. It literally was a year abroad or it might as well have been with all the things I learned about the alien living in my body. Now ...

This is a picture of one of my favorite crafty things to do. It's a twigs and berry Peace hanging pillow. Other people like it too as it is one of my best selling items of all times. For me nothing quite says peace like sitting with a one of kind Peace written on tea stained fabric with little green straight stitches and loads of beautiful red french knots. May not have said this previously but before I became an "artist" twigs and berries were my ultimate favorite thing to do. The meditation of all those tiny little detailed stitches brings peace to my soul. Also it is one of those things that you just can't do without paying attention. Also I made a decision that I can be an artist after Christmas but for now I have to give the people(and myself) what the people want. Peace. Peace is a word that is so overused at the moment between the war and Christmas(not a very good juxtaposition of thoughts there but it is what it is). But to be honest there is not very...

Sorry no pics today. We had a most interesting Thanksgiving, one that kind of reminds me why I love my new life so much. My son has had a sore throat for about a week and took a turn for the worse on Monday, we went to our local emergency doctor and they gave him some amoxicillin took a strep test and sent us on our way. By Wednesday my son was feeling much worse so we took off for his pediatrician who sent us to the lab for a mononucleosis test. I still haven't gotten the results because the normally not very patient mom waited too long to call the doctor's office and they were gone for the day. Perhaps they didn't get the results yet anyway. My son seems a little better today. But I digressed just a bit too much. So quarantined on Wednesday I decided to make the three of us lasagna for Thanksgiving day. Sounded like a great idea but I forgot the ground meat needed for the recipe so yesterday morning I got in my car and went back to the supermarket. On the way th...

Today is another tangled day. My emotions are raw, my brain is fried and I am feeling such a loss. I'm not sure what kind of loss, probably one that will make me a better person for having it in the first place. But that is to be pondered about tomorrow. How does one express gratitude for a situation that causes so much pain but has given you many lessons about who you are and what you are? I guess what I've realized is that I am an artist. I am a very sensitive, thin skinned artist. I am sensitive enough to pick up on the subtleties of energy. It allows me to try to protect myself whenever I am around negative energy and it allows me to reach out to people who need to be reached out to. But unfortunately having this radar allows me to foretell my own future. I know when someone is an enemy and I know when someone is a friend. For once in my life I tried to cherish an opportunity and to try and ignore the negative energy attached to it. And I almost pulled it off, bu...

A turtle on a black wool purse. It's for me. I'm going to make it extraordinary so that people will be able to see I am a fiber artist coming and going. I'll make it so lovely they'll stop me on the streets(well I hope so anyway). I've been learning a lot in the school of hard knocks this past month and it's got me tangled up like one of those embroidery thread bunches I am so fond of. But I'm optimistic if nothing else and when one door closes(or slams as it may be) another one opens. This time I will be in control of the door and who I let in and who I keep out. I lost control, I trusted the wrong people with my work, with my life, with my secrets. That's not an easy realization to have, to feel, to have to deal with. But it's the truth. So whether the rest of my journey is a walk, is a jog, is a sprint, I will be the one who chooses the path and the speed and those along for the ride. Sorry for the momentary detour off my happy so called b...

This is a piece I've called Blue Mystic. It is hand embroidered. It is reminiscent of a flower which is used as a description but to me as an artist it was more important as a symbol which comes from the center. Blue is the color of peace and lately I have not been very peaceful. There has been much going on in my center and my exterior which is troubling. But that is for another blog entry. The piece has green leaves emanating from the center. To me green is a color of rebirth and transformation. I think this piece represents how far I have come in the last year and how much more work I have to do to bring this peace in my heart to fruition. Needless to say I am going to have to find the path of least resistance to find my blue mystic.

This is a piece I've made for the Albany Shaker Museum. As I was driving home from replenishing my table at the Albany Shaker Museum I decided to dip into my more artistic mode and lo and behold Infinite Love came to me. I created 2 hearts in red symbolizing love and the infinity symbol in green which symbolizes life, with little yellow infinity symbols which symbolize light. I matted it with maroon to highlight the hearts. I love to hand embroider and am thinking very seriously of committing myself more to the medium of hand embroidery then to knitting and crocheting. It fills me with such peace to work on each stitch and let the piece talk to me. If you are interested in this piece you will be able to find it at the Albany Shaker Museum starting next Tuesday. Thank you for your time. Keep stitchin and I hope the thread speaks to your heart too.

These are my latest ornament. I've decided to be bright and cheery and different. I've made about a dozen over the last week different every one a different shape, a fabulous bright color and different design. I've had oodles of fun making them. Hopefully other people will enjoy them in their home as much as I enjoyed them in. I've also been working on another framed piece. It is a tangled, whirly mystery in blue. Soon it will have green accent pieces. I'll share it when it's a little further along. Hope you are all having a great day. Keep stitchin.

I have added a lovely link for a lovely lady. Her name is Judy Olson and she takes the most beautiful photography. Very unique and different. She takes the ordinary and makes it extraordinary. She has many beautiful photographs. My favorite was a turtle from straight on, I asked her how she did it and she told me but I'm not telling. You'll have to figure it out on your own or she's nice enough to tell you too. She also takes beautiful Adirondack photos too. She's a treasure, if you go to her website you won't be disappointed. Prepare to be in awe. Besides being a wonderful photographer she is a wonderful friend too. One I just met over the summer. She was a Strolling Village Artisan before I joined the coop and she gave me the most wonderful advice about my future as an artist. I should have listened to her and ditched those darn pillows. Well that is really all I have to say. If you read this go take a look, her work is beautiful. Keep stitchin.

My trusty threads and myself are feeling very unraveled tonight. After a not so terrific craft show trying to practically give away my old work, alas I returned with most of it. I've come to the conclusion I'm just not a craft show gal anymore. Not that I ever was very good at it. For a long time I did very ordinary things, extraordinarily. I am a stickler for details and spending hour upon hour putting every last embroidery stitch in a twigs and berry heart pillow. Hundreds of little green straight stitches and maroon french knots, over and over again. I can't say I didn't love the sheer meditative power to those french knots and perfecting them but now I don't think they represent me anymore.(Just in case you are overcome by the beauty, this pillow has been sold but it's sister is at the Albany Shaker Museum) So what is a girl to do? I guess I will keep journeying on the road of life and hope that there are many street signs to point me in the right d...

Stella is a hand embroidered goddess that looks like nobody in particular. I started with her outline, interspersed some beautiful accent colors and some pinks, blues for her eyes, red for her lips and just about finished she screamed out to me Stella. So here she is for your viewing pleasure. Stella will be leaving me tomorrow for a spot in the member's gallery show at Strolling Village Artisans. She will be showing there until the end of January but deep down I hope when she leaves she will be with somebody who adores owning her as much as I adored making her. Ta,ta for now happy stitching.

I was thinking about my love for fiber and where it came from. My artist statement says that I learned about fiber at a very early age sitting next to my grandmother who taught me how to knit, crochet, embroider. When I was young instead of running outside playing in the dirt you could find me with a set of knitting needles or a crochet hook and a colorful ball of yarn in my hand. My mother used to work in a department store kind of like Kmart is today. Sometimes she wouldn't be able to find child care for my brother and I, so she would set us up at the snack bar and give us a few dollars to buy whatever we wanted. I always bought yarn and embroidery kits. If I have a few extra dollars in my pocket you can still see me in the embroidery thread aisle. It is a pick me up that completely makes my day especially since I have become enamored of how one shade can go up just one little number and be a completely different color. You embroiderers will probably appreciate that, if ...

I know this is an art blog (or that is my intention anyway) but I am going to wax philosophically today anyway. Hope is a very important word, not just when you are in the black whole but even when you are climbing out of it. This past year has been such a year of hope and transformation. I have gone from a woman completely unaware of my talents(at least some of them anyway)to a woman who can look back and say I like who I am and I really don't care who likes me this way or not. I have a wonderful, wonderful friend Emily who is the best friend I have probably ever had in my life. She has been one of those unconditional friends who you feel you can trust with your secrets who loves you in spite of all your warts. I feel the same way about her. In the past year I have belonged to Strolling Village Artisans in Ballston Spa. I have learned so much from being around and working with such interesting talented people. Not only have I figured out that I am an artist but I have uneart...

Last night was First Friday at Strolling Village Artisans. A fun time was had by all. It was the first anniversary for the town of Ballston Spa First Friday celebrations. So many people were walking through town, including a very enchanting group of teenagers from Ballston Spa High School in costume to advertise the play they are in next week. If you had a card and had it stamped(or in our case stars)5 times you were eligible for a raffle. Most importantly it was our second Meet the Artist night. The wonderful potter Jim Best made some beautiful vases and a covered bowl to die for. Jim's work is very lovely and very spiritual. If you are ever in the neighborhood stop in and see it you won't be disappointed. Many of the artists in the coop were there to spur Jim on and give him our support. Also Judy Olson a wonderful photographer who has a studio in our building had her wonderful photography on display and Heather Hollywood, who is also a member of the coop, had her b...

This is my hand embroidered turtle. He started as just a simple turtle and by the time he was done he was quite complicated. If you believe in animal totems the turtle symbolizes longevity. Turtles have amazing survival skills and strategies. They sense vibrations in the water through their skin and shell. Turtle totems hold the mystery of awakening the senses on both the physical and spiritual levels and can stimulate clairaudience. When turtle shows up in your life, it is time to get connected to your most primal essence. Go within your shell and come out when your ideas are ready to be expressed. The turtle cannot separate itself from its shell and we cannot separate ourselves from what we do to the earth. The way to heaven is through the earth and both are interconnected. I have to be honest when I started making turtles and this one in particular I was not very aware of animal totems. One of my friends in Tai Chi told me I should research them and their meaning. I found out ...