handstories

Birds

    Begun at the beach.

    Often stitching feels like drawing, but these birds are more of a sketching process. Each stitch shaping the figure. They take time and consideration, along with some erasing (unstitching).  The surprise of them, the not knowing how they will look in the end, is fun. And I really like the couple of dark marks in the reddish cloth (dyed by Deb) and how they give the faint suggestion of birds coming through a portal. 

    And another bird in process, bigger (~8 x 6 in.), inspired by collage lessons in Carla Sonheim’s Creative Lab class.

    Both pieces traveled to the Atheneum down at Pike's Market today.  A friend and I wrote and stitched the day away looking out over Elliot Bay. 

    Much more to do here- around the bird and within.

Slowly...

    “Slowly, Deeply, Breathing it All In”

    We went through the trees to the Oregon coast last weekend…

    Great weather, a place with a beautiful view, and stitching on the small deck while watching the waves.

    Morning and late afternoon walks every day.

    And the sunsets…

    Life has definitely taken a turn toward relaxing.  Suddenly time doesn’t feel limitless anymore. I find myself being more thoughtful with how it’s spent. Trying to let go of the stress and urgency that most of life has been filled with.

    


    Even stitching has slowed some, making more time for reading, exercising, etc.  These are going into the shop today.  I have a routine of cleaning up the worktable after each shop update. It’s been a couple of months since the last one, so it’s very long overdue. Things are slip-sliding on top of each other and/or onto the floor constantly.  Maybe I should be a little less relaxed about some things?

Some recent things

    “Somewhere”

    “Hill & Moon Share Their Love of the Sky”

    Deb's dyeing made for a perfect sky and the patchwork scrap for the earth came from Jude, and it seems so full of story.

    I dropped the thread onto the piece and liked where it landed. It wasn’t until after I had stitched it that I saw the profile, which I also really liked. Especially the bird for an eye.

    “Unearthed”

    Working with the white muslin has been great. There’s a feeling of spaciousness in it that I’m really loving.

    Tomorrow, there is a regular check up with a new doctor. It’s been eight years.  There's sure to be a list of things that I should do more of and some things that should happen less frequently. Perhaps I will begin the meeting with a directive of her only being allowed to tell me two negative things?  The anxiety about the appointment has me leaning heavily into the "less of" side. I should probably talk to her about anxiety too.  Probably I won't need to say a word. Ha.

    Maybe I should get out some more white cloth?

She…

    The booklet that I mentioned last week. I suppose most of the things that I make our self talk. Everything is everything.
    Here is a link to the video.