Secrets

I've tried something a bit different with this project.

I was reading somewhere about someone with a site where you can leave your secrets anonymously. The site doesn't matter, but it got me thinking about the subject of secrets. We all have them. We try to bury many of them deep down in dark places, but often they lie just below the surface, covered by a thin veil. Sometimes people that know us can see through the veil.


Secrets, some of them are necessary for peace in our relationships and emotional and physical survival. They are not always "bad", sometimes they are silly like little beauty secrets. But some of them are sores that continue to burn us and are a  heavy burden to carry. Unloading them on others can be a relief.

Another thing about secrets is the fascination. We love to find out secrets about others. But have you ever stopped to wonder why? Is it make us feel better to know someone has things to hide that really only show that they are human?

Anyways, to the artwork. This is a great example of how painting is helping me with my needlework. I would have never thought of this sort of project otherwise.

This is one of my favorite ways to work to paint. There is freedom in it. And there is something else. I learn about myself and the world. What I do is to think of a subject, a thought, a feeling, something and without words, I get out the colors and brushes and just paint what comes. It is a little surprising sometimes what comes.The analysis of secrets above came after the painting, by the way, not before. I don't think I could have put those things to words without letting my brushes and paints go to work first.

When I looked at the finished painting, I just though the swirls were a little flower-like. I suppose we often associate gardens with secrets. Not just because of the Secret Garden book, which I haven't read since I was a child. The idea must be older than the book, but I have no idea, really. I added the bits of white paint around the edge later because I just felt the painting felt too open with out it.

So with this painting, I decided to try a needlework. I tried making some swirls in various ways, but I didn't like them, so I went with more traditionally-formed flowers. (The painting reminded me of them, as I said!)

As you see I have added a border around it, but there is some fabric left hanging to the left. This is because I am hoping to make some kind of fiber book. I have no idea what the "best" way to assemble one is, so I will make it up as I go, and I might need the extra fabric.

The lock and the key I added mostly for fun, but they are in keeping with the theme. I'm finding that I really like adding layers and textures with yarns and stitches. I will continue to try new ways to use the materials.

It's time to move to this month's journal project. I have some ideas, so I had better get to work!

Bee Purse

Finally, here is my bee purse!

And the beehive side:

It's a little work to sew these frames on, but it isn't hard.

This is part of my effort over the past year or so to take the embroidery "off the wall".  Or perhaps in my case, out of the box. I have 3 boxes now. It's starting to feel a little silly with the boxes, but I have made a lot of projects that need protecting. That's all fine, but what I have done here, is taken an embroidery and made it something you can interact with, and that's the key. A little purse is just one possibility, there are many more. I will keep looking for other objects that I find interesting to construct.

Time flies, it's hard to believe May is here. May is a busy time for the yard, but there is always time for more projects! And I'm writing it down, since I have already committed to it in my mind, but I have decided to run another summer stitch school. I'm not sure if it will be like the previous one or a little different. I have a few weeks to decide, but as I said, the commitment has been made!!

Bees

These are the sides to a new small purse I have been working on.

I've already sewn it all together, but my photos weren't so great (they were terrible in fact!!), so I will be back with it all sewed together soon.

Just some fun stitching. The tiny bees were probably the best part! I'm sure they will an appearance in other projects too!

Otherwise, spring is finally here. It's late April, but the crocuses and snowdrops are still in bloom!!  The crane migration was late too, but they did eventually come in all their grace and beauty.

At the most this year there were 10,000 at one time. Tons of barley are put out for them to eat every year.

Of course it isn't just the cranes that love to enjoy a meal.

Swans, geese, ducks of different varieties come too!

And not to forget the small birds!  This place is a haven for gulls, terns, larks, and many, many other birds, including these charming house sparrows that I saw in the bushes. Sparrows are common birds that often go unnoticed, but they have beauty too if you just choose to see it.

April 2013 Journal Project

Time for another embroidery journal project!

I call this one Night Flyers.

There is a story behind this project. One night we were outside putting out the pellets for the ducks as we always do. We weren't quite quick enough, so the ducks were already flying. (They live down in the river nearby.)

They won't land though if we are out moving about though, so we moved over to stand by the wall of the old house. The moon was a crescent, it was an icy, cold, starry night. I tried to capture this in an embroidery.

I limited the number of ducks to 6, but there are many more that come! You can hear the whistle and quacking as they circle about. They always come just as the last bit of light fades or in the morning just before the sun rises.

 Another project done, time to think about a new one!

My Creative Blog

I'm making a fresh start. I have decided that is what is needed. I've been going around and around in a viscous circle with this blog for months now. It did seem easier to wipe out this one (which I came very close to doing this week) and perhaps start a new one than try to re-make this one. But that didn't feel quite right, and I don't want multiple blogs right now either.

So I am officially changing this blog from my "needlework" blog to my "creative" blog. I've changed, and so must my blog. Of course, my needlework will be a prominent feature in this blog as it is my main creative pursuit, but I like to spend time doing other things. And if I only write about needlework, it will be a very short blog because I can't stitch that fast!!!

I learn many things in my other creative pursuits, about color, art, myself, the world, creativity. I do hope that I can inspire some of you out there to develop your creativity too. There once was a time in my life that I didn't at all see myself as creative. I was a total left-brainer, you might say. But I've grown and learned that it doesn't have to be like that. It's a matter of seeing. The world is filled with delights and wonders. We just have to open our eyes to see them.

I feel like I should start at the beginning of my journey now. I don't have all the photos prepared yet, and with the holiday, time is a little short, so I will just talk about the book.

It began with this classic book.

A year and a half ago, I just decided I needed to learn to draw. I knew about this book, since my mother had done a class when I was young, so it seemed to be a good starting point. Things haven't been the same since.

I didn't quite spend enough time on it to become a master at drawing, but you know what? That wasn't necessarily the goal, and neither was the drawing itself. It was a means to a greater end. I didn't realize when I started that it would be so incredibly helpful in learning to actually NOTICE the world around me. The small things, the beauty of a bird, the wind moving through the trees, the effect pleasant music can have. I used to barely take notice of birds, now I can recognize a great many of the ones around here and their songs too. I ask myself how I went so many years without even truly hearing them sing? It all just sounded like a bunch of little cheeps, now they are separate and distinct and each has its own beauty, even the squawking and clucking of the magpies.

I will end for this time. I hope that my story will help others to move towards developing their creativity because it really does add something great to our lives.

World Wide Web Embroidery

I've had this design sitting around for a long while. I even colored my vector drawing.

It must have been at least a year ago that I did this. But the time was finally right to make it into a project.

I was inspired by the way the web has transformed connections between people. Wires are literally wrapped around the planet and are now zipping our messages to their destination at amazing speeds.

I thank you for dropping by. I'm very busy on a different sort of project hoping to get it to some state of ready in the next month or two. It's putting the squeeze on everything else! There is only so much time to spread out.

But I have found myself in a different place now. I've realized this thing we call life is a temporary condition, and we have to think of that when we divide up our time and energy, so we focus our time and resources on what truly matters.

That's a deep thought, and I leave it open to you to contemplate, but I will be returning to this theme in the future.

March 2013

I have finished my embroidery journal project for this month. I had the idea at the end of February, so I went ahead and started it.

I got this idea from watching the birds, of course, as I often do. These blackbirds love to eat fruit. Apples are a favorite, but I think they like the raisins even better.

I added the tangle of branches around the little bird, since they spend their days hiding out in the bushes.  The males are jet black which makes the orange ring around their eyes really stand out.

The snow and ice continue melting. The winter has been long and oppressive. The sun is starting to be strong enough to warm us. Now we wait for the days to grow long enough for the blackbirds to break out into their sweet song.