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!

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!!

Oasis Light

11"x13", Bleached fabric, handmade stamps, ribbon, found papers, embroidery, bronze beads and digital transfer on voile.
In this piece I used some of my very bleached cloth and stamped pieces which I then added beads and embroidery. The photo is of an oasis, the only oasis I can say I have visited. It is not located in the Sinai but rather in the California desert. They look very similar and are mostly fed by underground springs. I've read that the desert is not a silent sandy place but a rather noisy place what with the wind, bugs, birds and animals. This piece is in answer to the last piece depicting night at the oasis. I'm imagining  daylight at the oasis to be remarkably different...more alive and safe. The cold night fears are relinquished with the clear explanations of seeing and hearing what might have caused such fears. Shadows and swishing sounds could easily be attributed to palm fronds and tall grasses. Rings of light can now be seen as possible reflections on water from the moon or dense starlight. Isn't that always the way...night fears give way to the warmth and clarity of daylight. How many times in my life did I worry only to see and think more clearly in the morning?