Asks and Answers: Dragon Sampler

This little piece of cloth started life as a yard of cream upholstery linen. Then the dyeing, lying in a drawer for years, and finally, a sampling opportunity. It lay, in its hoop, on the embroidery table and I picked it up to try several ideas before committing them to cloth. All was going swimmingly until, somehow, the Dragon stalked across the lower part of the cloth. She has a super power, I discovered. She can leap tall trees in a single bound.

Asks and Answers: Revisions

Asking the question is a way of framing the thing you are trying to understand, the problem to be solved, or, simply, to get a clearer image of something you haven't done before. Finding answers begins when you gather materials and begin to sample the possibilities. Since late winter, I have been asking and examining solutions. In going through boxs of older work, I found several pieces that triggered another respons, and two I had originally thought to be completed are now quite altered. The original of "16 Days in May" was done quickly, as a sketch diary of May, about two or three years ago:

The revision, completed in the spring, shows more detail, more reflection:

The second piece is called "Modern Choices." It was a response to a long day of having to figure out technology and social media issues, then the grocery store with its plethora of choices-- it was a jarring, uncomfortable day of questioning everything. First iteration:

I put it away, thinking I had rid myself of a lot of angst by making this (over about a week or so), and that would be that.  But when I came across it recently, I saw it in light of the COVID year.  Lockdowns meant we have become more dependent on media for even small things, and with a page of choices staring me in the face, I was asking questions again.  The revision, which did not add questions, changed the color of two questions and added lighter background highlights:

But this is not enough.  There is more to be said, more background to add to the maze of continual choices and uncertainties of results, so I am taking it up again.  Asking questions is good. Getting new answers is even better.

Quarantine and the Studio

Like so much of the world, we are isolated here, and if I did not have the studio I would have been locked away months ago for my own and others' safety. In that time I have concentrated on exploring my stitch world. Part of this exploration has been to find the Unfinished Pieces box and to re-evaluate. Other work has been new, some in response to COVID-19. As there is no end in sight to the spread of this virus, I will begin sharing some of these things, hoping always for better times. 

One good thing to come of this has been that I am using what I have rather than popping out for supplies. It seems a risky thing for someone with asthma to go into an infected world to buy a length of cloth, or thread, or paint, but this restriction did not turn out as badly as I had initially feared. I took these months of waiting to assess what I have, what I really need, and what I could do with it. I have been dyeing thread for years, but not always winding it onto bobbins so some color or texture could be easily accessed when I needed it. Fixed that. 

When I brought together the (scattered) stacks of cloth that had been cut into manageable sizes and dyed, I found I now have a fully-loaded cupboard, ready for use.  The pieces are stacked by color family, so even just standing in front of it all with both doors opened is inspiring. When things are all in one place, they can be impressive. 

I have also sewn several items of clothing for myself.  Inspired by the idea of the odd and interesting draped over me, I've begun to draw into the surfaces of some of these new-found fabrics to make collaged cloths that will become my fall wardrobe. This wardrobe I think of as "Studio Wear," because I am always a little reluctant to dress in my crazy creations and go out into the public. As there is no "public" available to me now, I have the freedom to dress in these crazy items as I work or play in the studio. Sometimes I look down and see that a spot needs a line of stitch, maybe another pocket (you can never have too many pockets), or some odd button (maybe you CAN have too many buttons). I even have a pair of comfortable linen trousers made from a pair of old curtain panels. I will press that outfit and put it on my dress form and share it with you another day. 

Our Stitching With A Twist (SWAT) Dogwood Chapter EGA group in Atlanta, was asked to stitch our response to COVID-19. My first reaction was to express just how frustrated I had become with the narrowness of my world, the sameness, the lack of stimulation in sheltering in place. This piece is about 4" square. The ground is a rip of cardboard onto which are sewn a piece of interfacing from a deconstructed garment, and over that a scrap of hand-rusted fabric. The stitches are made with a silk fiber that is wirey and filled with its own ideas about where it wants to lay on the cloth. It has not been twisted, which adds to its instability. A perfect choice for my first response.

The second response is larger, about 10" tall, and is assembled from scraps and off-cuts of clothing or stitch projects. The red strokes represent days, until there were so many they could no longer be counted meaningfully.

There is another, but it still needs a good deal of finishing.

Now to get some more items camera-ready. And maybe add another pocket to the vest that is weary from handling and being stitched and re-stitched. Back in a few.