Ribbons
Hand Embroidery on Water Colored Muslin
This is Ribbons. It can be seen in person at the Fulton Street Gallery in Troy, New York. This piece was very twisted to embroider. I started it and then got distracted and picked it up again and then got distracted again and then finally finished it. It is outlined in black because it didn't seem finished when it was just red. That is also the reason for the kantha stitching which seems to bring the whole piece together.
Perhaps it was too floaty or too much of a concept. It was one of those pieces that just kept twisting and turning until it seemed done just like a real ribbon does. I am starting to look at a lot of my work lately. Adding one or 100 more stitches when in the past I would have just said this is done. Now they just don't seem done until they seem done and looking at some of my old pieces displayed around my house I am looking at them anew. The watercolor and painting seems to become much more prominent. I find that I sometimes get the same feeling out of painting the background as I do in stitching the piece. I would have never thought that even a possibility. I am even starting to notice the subtle differences in using different types of paint.
The kantha stitching is a new element too. I love the way they tie a piece together but most of all those tiny little background stitches are so meditative and peaceful. I am beginning to love those tiny stitches. I turn the the television off and it is just me and those tiny little stitches. Very peaceful. And I am now looking at my older pieces and asking if they need a little more. Maybe I will embroider myself into some sort of embroidery nirvana.
Life has been very hectic and very twisted. No straight paths here so the idea that there is something I love so much that can get me out of my own head is certainly a blessing like one of those little ribbons that people wear on their lapels that do something good for somebody, or a lot of different somebodies. So my tale of the ribbons has come full circle. Hopefully life is calming down and I can have my embroidery and my blog too. Hope to see you soon.
Comments
Happy Valentine's Day!
Hope you feel a little less hectic and twisted. I think life these days can simply be just that for so many of us.
I agree, they add a lot. I think that just as in painting, a stitchery piece gains interest from complexity. The trick--and to me the hardest part--is to know when to stop!
I'm so glad your work gives you such peace and calms your spirit. We all need such an outlet in this busy and often fragmented world!
I like the piece a lot, and it's exciting that you're experimenting with paint, as well!
I could especially relate to what you said about your stitching being meditative. The same thing happens to me when I create although I use a different medium.