Since I'm in the midst of moving, house hunting, house selling and generally preparing for a major upheaval in my life, I finally gave myself permission to lean on the crutch of hand stitching and leaf shapes. Ah. What a relief. It was fun to make and I'm pleased with the results. A bumpy start, but a good result.
I hope our move goes as well. Bumps are to be expected, but I am hopeful for the end result. The culmination.
Culmination
There are tiny bits of freshness here. I think my hand embroidery is more energetic than some of my previous work. I like the interesting mix of elements --- fused, painted, stitched. I think I could have gone farther with that. Maybe next time.Just three different fabrics in this piece. I pulled out lots of purple and yellow from my stash, but these were the only ones that really wanted to play together.
There's something to be said for the tried, true, and what you love to do...Deborah. I like the tiny bit of greens on this piece, it really adds that bit of punch.
ReplyDeleteWhen there are stresses in your life, I think it's best to stay in your comfort zone as much as possible. This is a wonderful pieces, I love the circles.
ReplyDeleteOh, Deborah, your tried and true is always fresh and interesting to me. I love looking for all your little details. And, like Francoise, your pieces evoke serenity and calmness. I know your life is anything, but, so I am sure this work is important for your own serenity.
ReplyDeleteDeborah, I love the color in this piece. That cool, green-y yellow works so differently with the purple than the hot, warm yellows and brings it into your world of cool, watery colors, but with an edge of sharpness that feels very sophisticated to me. I think you used some of your tried and true elements, but gave them a new feel here. Really lovely!
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting to me how you have worked as an artist to define a set of elements that are meaningful to you and you use so well -- and then using them starts feeling like a crutch. I see you as having developed a gorgeous and individual style, so I guess the trick is to keep working with those things in new ways so you are building on your strengths and moving forward, too. I wonder if there is some bit of puritan ethic in you that says, as you are doing something that you do so well "This is too easy so it is a crutch and that is bad?"
ReplyDeleteAnyway, sorry to go on but I think that's fascinating. The elements are used beautifully and I agree that your hand-stitching adds a lot of energy-- those upward floating x's. I love how your handstitched horizontal lines read sort of as tree trunks and your use of the circle prints feels just right.
On my monitor, the background fabric shows as green more than yellow -- maybe that's true to the actual piece and not where the "yellow" of the challenge was intended. But that makes those yellow stitched x's show up all the more.
Lovely.
I love how you take the elements that are so you and combine them in new ways every time. Your voice sings beautifully every time. I see no reason to abandon your favorite techniques, motifs and colors. Perhaps with each piece you could just step out with one small element. With this piece the yellow is a big step and you pulled it off wonderfully.
ReplyDeleteI like it Deborah. Especially the purple part with the yellow leaves and the cross stitches. Beautiful!
ReplyDeleteDitto what terri and Diane have said. i couldn't have said it better and I agree with every point. Hang in there and keep evolving, be it ever so slow sometimes. :-)
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