Circle of Return 002

17"x19", hand stamped cloth, variety of painted cotton, beads, both hand and machine stitching.

This piece is a step away from the 'gate imagery' of this series and instead a bridge was used as my metaphor. The green cloth was stamped with my own cut stamp as well as the dark sky star section was stamped with my hand cut stamp. The beads were just plain fun to sew!
A point of wisdom from a friend was that as we age we become more like who we really are ...In my life I've felt I've been on a journey, good, bad and even wonderful only to return as in full circle. I feel so much has dropped away and I'm more in touch with my truer self and it feels good ... like a homecoming. So the title "Circle of Return" seems perfect.

Beading Along

I'm not really very good at beading but I like the trying part. I also like the variety of beads. I especially like the glass beads as I just bought small tubes of red, green and gold. My fingers are no longer nimble and my eyes strain to thread the needle even with the help of a magnifying light. I enjoy the slow adding, building process and here I have used a combo of turquoise and the green glass beads on hand stamped cloth. .Sometimes I think while I'm beading that I have stepped into the ancient world when someone beaded beautiful ritual robes ... my fantasy for sure!!

Art of Green

I like green and use a Pthalo green when mixing colors but it isn't easy for me. In fact green usually gives me fits in most art making. I lean towards a blue green so finding this stark yellow green was a rare find. It is a mixed media piece using paper collage. The second piece is a fabric collage with a mix of paint, fabric and oil pastel. Today I am going to have a good size strip of my hair dyed a teal green ... kind of a way to step into spring and or just for the fun of mixing it up a little ... wish me luck! Meanwhile have fun visiting all the green on Roy G Biv Day!

"Columbaria"

16"x22", solid and printed cotton cloth, rust prints on muslin, paper collage, ribbon, bits of newspaper, hand and machine stitching and rust stained twine.
This is my attempt at gate 5 and the subject is angels/messengers. Two strong thoughts inspired me. One is that I believe we act as angels/messengers for one another. I can't count all the times when I have overheard a strangers remarks or read an excerpt on a blog that changed my perspective completely. I don't know if I have returned the favor but I'd like to think so.
My second inspiration comes from viewing photos of ancient cave complexes with carved out niches used for dove keeping. Can you imagine living underground? These beautiful doves had many uses but I see them as pure messengers in flight. The paper collage strips are actual black and white photographs of the ancient dove niches. So my thoughts on all the ways we receive blessed messages helped create this piece.
Rust printing was a highlight of gathering cloth for this piece. Fun to add my corroded nails, washers to muslin shapes and tying these bundles to soak in a white vinegar and water bath. It only took a few days and I was happy with the results especially after, rinsing, soaping scrubbing, drying and ironing!
Now for a couple days of clean-up and then to new work!