strange dreams

I don't give much credence to dream interpretation anymore; i used to keep a journal of them in my younger more impressionable days. (Along with the pyramid under the bed and the crystals in the windows...) Everything was fraught with meaning and angst, and surely the meaning being interpreted would better my days. But, you know what? It took a lot of time to write all that dribbly personal "symbolism" down and most of the time it made no sense whichever way i "analyzed" it, Freudian, Jungian, Feminismian (i made that up), or Looney Toons. Dreams are simply the brain's way of processing the day's events.

Yeah sure, there's some recurring themes, or icons, but for the most part, little packets of information are just travelling along the synaptic conveyor belt looking for their spot in the big ol' brain warehouse. I know the zombies, 11tybazillion cats, sons drowning and unassisted flights are random stray thoughts being compressed into running files that don't really affect anything, but if they're not "saved", or god forbid they are deleted, all hell would break loose in the psyche.

That being said, dreams are a great way to come up with ideas or develop them or see those recurring themes and icons in an uninhibited way. For years, i had the same dream over and over about a large floating blue lady--that worked in eventually into one of my Hoodoo pieces, still a work in SLOW progress. The body series is a ubiquitous niggle in my vasty head also.

Last night i dreamed that everywhere i went there were holes underneath---under floors, down through the corners of rooms, under cars, tunnels within tunnels and underpasses, narrow apertures that led into cavernous rooms and cathedrals. Everything was white, dusted with white, crumbling and falling into itself making the holes bigger and more apparent on the surface.

How the hell does this all compute? What am i supposed to be Making from that???? The daytime/waking subconscious is working, downloading and filing...........

stitchedy stitchedy stitchedy AND stitchedy stitchedy stitchedy AND

Well, you get the picture. I have been doing a minimum of three hours stitching every night on the big Heart piece----tubage is a evening requisite chez Stately Barr Manor, but unless i have something to do, it feels like a whole lot of wasted time.

I have a callus now on my right ring finger from pushing that big ol' poker of a needle---unfortunately i am finding that smaller finer needles push THROUGH the callus so there are holes also. ICK. It's worth it though: the more i work with Deb's damask cloth, the more i fall in love with it. And with the texture of the quilting/stitching against the cloth. And the colours. And the sense of accomplishment. Oh.

I have threads precut and draped over my power light, needles stuck in the arm of the couch and strict injunctions to cats who attempt to cuddle on top of the whole thing. It's hard picking fine white fur and smoothing away baby fine tortie fur...............i love them, they love me, but.

And i am not thinking about how many inches i have done or not done---it's just happening, inch by minute by stitch.

Update on Thu, November 19, 2009 at 4:42PM by arlee

PS the pics are small and slightly blurry for a reason :}

a heart day's day, shadowboxing

Lordie, i will NOT be doing these by hand if i intend to sell them!!!! And i DO intend to sell them, or ones similar!!! JUST finished the first one.

Not really what i had in mind at the beginning, but glad i tried.

shadowboxing

I have been looking for shadowboxes for a long time. I know i could make them, but the thought of cutting the glass makes me hesitate. I've broken enough over 34 years at various flower mines to make me a little nervous and sometimes i have to work with broken glass--one of our customers brought a big box of it that i was to use in the bottoms of glass cubes---i figure i should have been given hazard pay for those arrangements! Blood is so unattractive spotting the lilies and dripping onto those white linen tablecloths......

I found 4 yesterday! They were cheap, but don't look cheap, and will look even less so when i am done with them. They have actual glass in them not stiff plastic or acrylic--bonus! I have in mind a heart, a brain (or skull with brain), and i don't know what and i don't know what :}. At 3/4 of an inch deep, there is enough room for some dimension without getting silly. The entire "insert" is only 4 and 3/4 inches square, which means i can go whole hog in a small area and not get tired of the thing before it's done.

Photos this afternoon.

I think i'll go back and get the rest of them as well! And i thunked up a way to make larger ones without having to cut the glass myself.

monday, monday, monday, that's all

Wild "Japanese" Clematis, has gone to seed here and covers wide expanses of fences and hedges--so pretty!

And my darling Son, J:

I hadn't seen him since the beginning of July, though we talk often. Couldn't stop hugging him and rubbing his fur backwards :} I didn't want to let him go!!! Only 3 months until he's gone to Uganda.....

Today i received my sample piece of Spoonflower printed fabric--pretty pleased with it. The pink dots in the pink sections didn't print well as the colours were too close, but over all i like the effect and may order actual yardage.

The "quilting" cotton is quite lightweight but given that the hand is soft, this would work well for my purposes. If i were doing a utility piece, i might be a bit concerned about longevity. There are care instructions included but it is fairly sheer considering its makeup.

I also thought i'd be getting a smaller image, though that may be my fault for not setting correctly what i was ordering. Over all, i like this!

I have a cough and a sore throat and was sent home from work. NOT the "dread" piggy puke disease, probably just a bad cold starting. Still hate it!

I have done more hand stitch on "My Heart Has A History", but soon will be at a point where i can't show it, if i wish to enter it in any shows. You'll see a bit more of it soon, then it will be hiding in the background as i work on other things.

I had a flash of inspiration for more uses of Frankenstitch--another piece that will be in the Artist's Body series. I realized too i have been working on this series for 10 months with not nearly as many pieces finished as i had planned for the year. Of course, i didn't know that part of this was this artist's fingers would be doing a lot of handwork for it! I'm accepting the fact that it will be done when it is done, in its own sweet time. I'm enjoying what i have accomplished so far, and i would guess that deadlines for this sort of thing HAVE to be flexible. Maybe next year, i will have them all in a show, as that was my purpose in creating this "body of work". If i count "Cache" from the CyberFyber Invitational, i have been exploring this subject for slightly more than a year!

I do hope that the Frankenstitch lessons posted here helped someone---never heard back from the person who had specifically requested them.........

Update on Mon, November 16, 2009 at 3:58PM by arlee

HA! Couldn't resist--i have ordered 2 yards of miror repeat---fun to come!

one stitch wonder

I recently rejoined the QA list and found a link to this woman's art. I was astounded by the beauty and simplicity--she uses ONE stitch to create these visual astonishments!

Ilze Aviks--detail, Ascension

And on a similar note, go read Elaine Lipson of Red Thread Studio fame's article about Jude Hill on Hand/Eye magazine. Scroll down to see the link--i left the URL as the main page--read all the other articles too :}

I'm off for the weekend to see la famille in Edmonton Hell Edmonton, including NumberOneandOnly Son. Have a stitchy one yourselves, i'm taking "My Heart Has A History" to add more hand work!

venturing into fabric design

Several weeks ago, i tried out Spoonflower, a digital fabric printing site that has taken off like wild fire. I don't do flowers and cutesy though, so the day i was experimenting with heart designs (which you can see in my first video attempt :), i thought i'd try it out.

Another learning curve, like video, but without the stage fright! Your images have to be clear, densely packed with pixels, resolution and colour placement. Printing on fabric is different from printing on paper!

This was the trial run design:

When i uploaded and did a trial on-site, i realized the silver was not showing up well, and would print poorly. I digitally edited the scan, adding white dots where the silver ones were, then filling them with a purple or pink. I do like the gradation of colour inside the heart---simply happening because the original is done with metallic markers.

I'm not sure what i will do with this fabric, but at least i know if i have any brainflashes for designs to be actually used Chez Stoodio, i could have them printed :)

This is what a "fat quarter" would look like, printed at 150 dpi:

Changing the dpi affects the "finished" size of the design--the higher it is, the smaller the actual design, but the higher the quality of printing. There's probably just enough white around each motif that it could be used as applique. Or little "stuffies"--Valentines? Give-aways? Promo items?

Working to cover large areas with a motif, whether singly or in conjunction with other motifs, is not something i ever thought about before. Scale, detail and pattern within (ie half drop, mirror repeat, half brick drop) is not an easy design exercise. If the motif is too large, what will it do when placed on a body? If it's tiny, the overall effect is colour, not motif. I inherited several humungous theatre curtains several years ago, with colossal baroque motifs, convincing the previous owner that it was beautiful and grand. Yup, if you're a theatre screen. I attempted to make a long jacket from it, and looking in the mirror saw that the 20" repeats made me look like, well, exactly that. ONE single motif strategically placed, but not 6 or 7! Dyeing is a different ballgame, as is creating "complex cloth"---the overall is affected immediately, with few or no "dividers". Maybe i' should just stick to those techniques?

The other "problem" with fabrics like this is, why do i want the same thing over and over? I tend to isolate images and work them into other materials or stories--this could be a push for larger tales :} I'll reserve judgement until i can actually work with the fabric and idea. I'm still waiting for my sample---getting mail from the US lately has been a BITCH!

There are some really beautiful fabrics on Spoonflower. And there are a lot of trite, "crafty" ones as well. I'm glad though that the opportunity exists and the benefits outweigh the pitfalls.

For absolutely incredibly beautiful fabrics, look here . Waaaaaay out of my budget, but oh so drool worthy! At $84-138 a METRE, they are not printing your designs however!

A Common Humanity

Greyman and i have been watching all week, the specials and history pieces for Veteran's Week. This year i was compelled to do something in stitching.

This is unfinished, though i spent 8 hours working on it yesterday. For those who fought and died, for those who fought and lived, for those who survived and went on after.

 ....I hang 'mid men my needless head,
And my fruit is dreams, as theirs is bread:
The goodly men and the sun-hazed sleeper
Time shall reap, but after the reaper
The world shall glean of me, me the sleeper.

Love, love! your flower of withered dream
In leavèd rhyme lies safe, I deem,
Sheltered and shut in a nook of rhyme,
From the reaper man, and his reaper Time.

Love! I fall into the claws of Time:
But lasts within a leavèd rhyme
All that the world of me esteems --
My withered dreams, my withered dreams.

Francis Thompson

needleturning, a beeyotch!

HOW do all those Baltimore Beauties do it??? I've done minimal to none needleturning before and man, was this one a trial! Not only tiny curves--a lot of which just didn't/couldn't make the final grade, but to top it off, what did i choose to use but rust dyed fabric. GROAn, get out the pliers and the bandaids.

However, i am very pleased with the end result. The bird floats as he should above the background and i was very careful about spacing and thread-to-fabric "grabs". He's not ABSOLUTELY perfect, but close enough for the purpose.

And where is he going?

thinking outside the (fibre) box

From my dear SIS MaryAnne, i received a FABU box of goodies yesterday. These are the pinnacle of yumth factor right now:

A BIG bag of milkweed pods was on top of the other treasures (skull beads, fabics to "dye" for and shred(!!), a delightful mini book with inspiration and affirmations,and raw materials). If you grew up in the country in Mid-Eastern Canada (Ontario), chances are you played with these as a child. The flowers attracted and housed Monarch Butterflies and their offspring, and were coveted by this child, mostly because the sappy juice shortened any vase life after picked. They had to be enjoyed on the plant, and if you picked too many of them, the pods of course never appeared. Splitting them open at the right moment released an ethereal cloud of little brown bodied fairies, and the ones stuck were fairy fishes, scaley and soft.

Now to experiment with the fibres!

I'm also back to (backwards can be good!) a point where i have so many ideas and am having to write up priority lists again. This hasn't happened since some time last year when we were still living with MIL (shudder)----i'm expecting of myself a lot of different things in the next few months.

There will be colour and fun here again!