Mosaic Monday

Last week I showed you some pictures from my paper stitch book.  I asked Maya, at Million Little Stitches, if I could share with you a picture of her embroidery on paper.  Her art work showed me that I have a long ways to go and that paper has a lot of potential for the embroidery artist.
You can read about this piece called.My Allotment Garden here.

Flowers - A memory quilt

I made this quilt in 2007.

The quote was taken off of a post card that I had written and sent my mother

after the death of my little girl, Sarah. She was 15 months old.

Sarah died in a tragic accident, that was a shock to us all and left a hole in my heart.

My mother sent me this post card back in 2006.  I had not even remembered writing it.

I thought the words were so meaningful

that I wanted them to be on something that would not get lost or torn,

so I decided to put them on a quilt.

"Winston and I just picked some flowers and I put them in the rose bud vase.

I think how each one of us is like a cut flower one day we will perish.

If we stay closed because of coldness, God does not enjoy our beauty (walk)

or fragrance (prayer life).

It is only when we open up to Him that he can enjoy us.

Sometimes to preserve us God chooses to press us.

God's will be done!

June 5, 1992"

Becky's Gallery

Exotic Butterfly - 2009

On fridays I like to show some of my finished artworks.

In keeping with the spirit of an article written by Arlee on Mr. Stitch Hippy Embroidery,

I thought I would show you one of my embroidery wall hangings that has a hippy influence.

Thank you Arlee for including my Dug Out wall hanging in your gallery for the article!!!

Loved It!

PEACE

Thursday Art Video - Happy Thanksgiving

This is a stitched accordion moleskin.  Cool...just think of the possibilities.

Just for something fun check out this magazine...Just a little eye candy.
http://www.antlermag.com/index.html

The Door to Change

 It has been brutal being out in all this wind, so naturally I am looking for an escape.

The door to change is not the name of this door.

I will name the door after I have thought about what to embroider on it.

I used to live at the Piano Factory in Boston near Tremont and Mass Ave.

It was a community of artist.

In the artist spirit they encouraged you to paint your own door.

I had never thought about using my door for an canvas before, have you?

 

What would your door be like?  What would it say about you or how you feel about living where you do?

 

What colors would you use?  Would it be loud or soft?

Would you go outside the line and extend your painting to the walls?

Would it be exciting or tranquil?

 

What would your door look like if you were thinking about living in a desert with no water, or electricity?...except for what you brought in or made.

These are the thoughts that I am having as I work on my wall hanging, Dug Out.

A Stitched Paper Journal

This is the cover of my Stitched Paper Journal.

I have not bound the book, because I find it easier to work with loose pages for stitching.

Abstract Page 1

Lynn wrote that she like the idea in my profile of using paper plates with holes punched in them to teach young children to sew.  I told her that I would try to find one of the paper plates that I had stitched as a little girl, but I was unable to.  Probably went the way of all things. 

Sun Spot page 2

The idea for the book at first was to be a dictionary of stitches.  Stitching paper worked well for single stitches but I felt it would be a challenge when it came to stitches that needed multiple holes and some ease.

My husband is a amateur radio operator and is always checking the space weather for sun spots.

Right now we are in a solar minimum and it should be getting a lot colder.

Spiral page 3

I was listening to music, which is what I usually do while I am working on this book.  I was thinking about the rhythm of the music and the rhythm of the stitches.  I was thinking about them being a beat either close together or far apart.  I think it is neat that the edge on the right looks like a negative of a profile of a face.  It wasn't intentional but it was appropriate, as I like to meditate while doing these pages..

Pomegranate Page 4

My son, Isaac loves pomegranates.  My daughter does too, but when I buy one I buy it with Isaac in mind.  I sat down one evening with Isaac and Catherine and we all drew together.  I drew a few sketches to do in stitches with conte crayons that I had bought recently.  I wasn't really thinking about how I would stitch these when I drew them.  I just was drawing quickly and without thought of "making art".

Abstract 2 page 5

It was Catherine's idea that we all draw together.  I wanted to do more stitching on my Dug Out quilt, but she reminded me that I really needed to work on drawing more.  Catherine is a really good artist.  She loves to do faces and the anatomy.  I am hoping that one day she will put her work up on Flicker or create her own blog.  Right now she is working on making a book of her drawing like I am doing these stitched pages.  I think she has about 5 or 6 of them done. 

This is the back cover.  I got this fabric as a gift from Ancient Cloth.  I like the two different fabrics in the same book.  I am planning on using a Coptic stitch for binding this book.  It will have 40 pages when it is done.  I am hoping to have it done by the Dec. 31.

Mosaic Monday

1. eye, 2. Clarke, Major and Heseltine, 3. Dreaming of a Small World, 4. Dressing the Crow marionette
How do these things relate....well they are my favorites for the week.
They show the hand of the creator...and eye of the master.
I am continuing to think about the marionette that I want to do with my son...so I am planting some images here for that.  Jude at Spirit Cloth  has been talking about eyes and seeing so I have been thinking about new ways of seeing.

Raining Cats and Dogs

Catherine and I made these cute grocery/book bags.

On one side is a cat and on the other side is a dog.  The background fabric has raindrops on it.

In the Pacific Northwest, where I live, it rains cast and dogs for 6-9 months of the year.

The pattern is a Sandy Bonsib design, from the book Folk Art Quilts.

Catherine made this block when she was 8.  We won the rest of the blocks in a raffle from the Coos Sand And Sea quilting guild.

I designed the bags.  I made the bottoms out of denim cut from a pair of jeans.

The handles are made from the waist band and the button is the button from the pants.

Catherine sewed the lining and the strips of fabric to the block.

I took a long strip of fabric and folded several times to make a tie. 

Then I made a loop in the tie to go around the button.  

I made one of these as a gift for my friend at Ancient Cloth.

We have been email each other for quite sometime and she sent me some fabric just out of the blue.

I told her that I would make something and put a piece of her fabric in the mix so that

it would remind me of her and the 'something' would remind her of me.  Her fabric is beige.

 

These bags also remind us of another special artist that we have both been influenced by

and that is Jude at Spirit Cloth.

Here is Catherine.

Rattlesnake Ridge

This is Part 2 of a Rattlesnake Fools Coyote.

You can see Part 1 here.

To read Part 2 click the Read More button.

Mosaic Monday - DRIFTWOOD

1. Driftwood ball sculpture, 2. Dr. İftwood having a sunbath, 3. Christus, 4. Driftwood Fish, nr. 2

My children and I have been collecting driftwood off the beach.  So I thought I would show you some favorite driftwood art from different artist.  Be sure to visit their flicker gallery and leave them a comment if you like.  I am hoping to use our driftwood to make some things for Christmas...right now it is drying out.

Friday....gallery

Today I wanted to show you a picture of some art dolls that I made.  This is Crazy Owl and Frozen.  They are made of silk.  Crazy Owl is wearing silk sharara and Frozen is wearing silk ties.  They are kinda funny characters, always playing passive agressive games with each other.  One trying to control the other and the other wanting to thart that control.  Who will win?  It is a never ending drama.

Video Thursday - Paul Goodnight

Part Two
Part Three

I am so excited to show you these videos. This artist...Paul Goodnight, was a personal friend of my boys when we lived at the Piano Factory in Boston.  

Paul Goodnight would meet my children, Winston and Isaac in the courtyard.  My son Winston was like Thomas Edison...in a lot of ways...but he used to be notorious for asking a lot of questions.   One of the simple answers to Winston's questions was Scubba Dust....How does or how do you ...it was all attributed to Scubba Dust.  He was so much fun for my children and provided a lot of laughs for all of us.

Coyote Mountain

This is a fictious mountain that I made up for this quilt.  I thought about how we used to go hiking around Lookout Mountain...and there would be different faces of the mountain that people would call a name based on what that rock face reminded them of.  I read a folk tale about how Rattlesnake Fools Coyote, it so spoke to me about my own mountains in my life right now.

Catherine's Birthday

Saturday my daughter turned 13.  We had a lot of fun making crafts together.  I will share what it was we were making later...because it is a surprise for someone and she hasn't gotten it yet.

Catherine has really enjoyed sewing on her Singer Feather Weight.  We have had a lot of laughs around all the manual things that you have to remember to do.  It sounds like a clock.  Really reminds you of the Industrial Revolution this country was built on.  This machine was found in a thrift store in Alabama for 15.00 before my daughter was born.

We finshed our day off with a game of Operation and Root Beer Floats.  It was such a fun birthday!!!  Here brother Isaac is hoping that she will not have a steady hand.  He is so competitive.

Mosaic Monday

1. juni09 026, 2. old stuff 020, 3. Daisy, 4. Twist and Shout, 2007-


It is raining here and so I needed some color therapy.  These are a few of my favorite Flicker images.  Hope you enjoy and will see other examples these artist have by clicking on the links.

I Missed Mosaic Monday...so here it is.

1. A study with color, 2. Operation Guy!, 3. Expression libre, 4. Iris Dragon

These are a few of my Flicker Favorites this week.

Grooves in the Desert

I have been studying rugs lately...on gutenburg.  In this book on rugs it said this.
"The rug itself symbolizes Eternity and Space, and the filling or plan is the symbol of the world - beautiful but fleeting and limited."  Because that is what a life is and what we put in it and what we take out of it...just like what we decide to put in our art and what we leave out.  It is our story.