Thursday, June 6, 2013

"Fading Memories"

12"x20" embroidery, Momigami, found papers, machine stitching, dried flowers, digital transfer on silk, wire and ribbon.

This is the first of my proposed three sacred cloths using the palm motif. I tried once again the technique of Momigami. The green rectangles and also the tan rectangle in lower center. This tan cloth began as those thin brown recycled napkins and after oil and crumbling it became a soft delicate cloth?! The jar is a silk transfer of an ancient jar with Hebrew letters incised into the pottery...a very rare find. I see this cloth as a collection of memories both the sewn jar and the transferred image seem to be as faded memories of daily desert rituals.

On a personal note some of my sweetest childhood memories were of spending an occasional few days at my grandmother's house. I was 6-7 and now that I recall she was my age that I am now. Our mornings were spent moving a gigantic garden hose around her yard watering her beautiful flowers. The garden was glorious and there I learned about azaleas, carnations, wisteria, roses and daisies to name a few! After our gardening she would prepare my breakfast which was always the same: a soft boiled egg perfect with salt & pepper, golden toast generously buttered and a warm mug of coffee mostly milk. Sacred memories for me!

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Palm Motif

I found this design of a border of palm trees and flowers online at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. The palm motif was very popular all the way back to the ancients and I will be using it on each of the three cloths I'm putting together but with different colors and all. The printing process is called 'water soluable glue and textile paint'. Simply put it is silk screen over a hand drawn dried glue design. I created this freehand using a squeeze bottle of glue in order to maintain the raw image. I used a green textile paint for the print and then added raw umber by a roller on the fabric. I've added embroidery and used a 'daisy chain' stitch for the flowers. I'm still getting excited about learning new stitches and adapting them to my images. This is just the beginning border to the altar cloth so I have plenty to do and I admit Holidays and BBQ's are keeping me away from the work table. Friday is marked as an all day studio day...Wooope!

Sunday, May 19, 2013

Thread Shopping!

It all began with me needing black embroidery floss but once I started opening the little drawers revealing all the colors...well, I was lost in color lust. Thankfully I had a 25% off coupon and a 10% off offered to artists working with cloth. I just began opening the drawers and picking out colors that I was drawn to...that spoke to me. I put a few back and I was surprised at the limited blue (favorite color) but for now this will determine my palette. Most of the colors are light and grayed down. Tell me do any of these colors call to you? I have in mind to create three altar cloths (fragments) so now to get to work

Yesterday we saw "The Great Gatsby" and we both enjoyed it so much. I was taken with the over the top visual scenes and musical score and yet the film stayed with the original dialogue...I recommend. The next movie I desire is "Inside Llewyn Davis". One section of the review by Sasha Stone states "though it takes time for him to realize that to achieve greatness in music--or any art for that matter--is to access parts of yourself most of us keep hidden."  For me that is an Amen! I'll take a small popcorn with butter and a bag of m&m's please!!