what if? what if?

i keep it to the minimum?

if i add puff paint?

if i create a white cluster with a wing needle to support the black mass?

then fill the empty space with more texture?

what iffing while the soy priming cures.

neki desu

from the inkshop

in nara on sanjo dori.















trying zen stitching

this one's in process.  if  one stitches and pulls the cotton gauze reacts by separating the threads and creating lovely holes.inspiration  comes from deanna.

3 days to go until i close my artfire shop.


neki desu

antidote-finished

the stitching noise  antidote is finished. another good news is that today is the first sunny day in weeks. the bad news is that it's hot. the good news is that i started warming the ai vat for  dyeing.

looking forward to some dyeing before september comes. you never really know with september it can be cool and rainy or very hot and dry.

on another note i decided to close my artfire storefront so do check it out before the end of the month when i'll take everything down. see if you like anything. hint,hint.

neki desu
 

noise

living in the city is great. there is access to shops,hospitals many cultural activities and other amenities. i can turn down the stove, run down to get that missing ingredient and be back in 5 minutes; that's convenience. there is also a sense of neighborhood that i like. BUT:

summer means renovations and there is always one, if we're lucky, going on.this is not japan where neighbors are visited to announce the works thanked for their patience and in good will spirit presented with small gifts. here you wake up one morning at 8 to the sound of a sledge hammer. husband -san finds it normal because people take advantage of their going away on holidays to do the works, that's the way it's been done; this kills me. sure they go away and come back to a redone place. no inconveniences for them all for the neighbors. i think inconveniences should be shared.

this week has been dramatic after we thought the other works had finished 2 weeks ago and peace had finally settled in.

there's a lot of stitching going on because work has to be relaxing, soothing frayed nerves. in the hopes that the workers start painting next week yours truly is stitching away. the one above is still in progress. printed, painted and distressed lutradur, still dealing with the pink OD.

neki desu

what i've been up to

while keeping my breath and trying not to die-note the spelling- from heat stroke.

sitting outside under the parasol and stitching slowly to conserve energy. it's not only the heat, 32º c, but the heat index. i can fry eggs in the studio with all that noon sun hitting it.

stitching is  soothing energy conserving  work.

as you can see this is variations on a herringbone theme.

scraps of the wool herringbone fabric i wove last winter that could not bear to throw away. still have more. odds and ends, the dotted fabric was from a bag of gifted scraps. 

hand and machine stitching; still not sure about the hefty herringbone maybe it's an overkill. too hot to think clearly. help!

neki desu
 

staring back

i bet you know the feeling.a work staring back at you from the design wall. for months, if you are lucky, if not for years. needs an elusive something to call it done.

and one day in a flash you see it pick it up and finish it.and get on with life. 

this is the story of this one. 

 just adding the stitching below the image and more stitching creating texture on the right and the bottom  and it all came together.
because my work has moved in other directions  this now feels like archaeology.

speaking of archaeology; having a great time reading  between the woods and  the water by patrick leigh fermor  who was  mentor to bruce chatwin. if you are interested in history and languages this will be a pleasure read.







neki desu
 

some occupational therapy

wow! it's been almost a year since i used one of my photos from flickr and to sum it up it's impossible.you get their formatting, bylines and unwanteds. wonder about the free accounts because mine is pro.

here's the original  straight from my computer with the post that went with it

http://amovablefeast.blogspot.com.es/2010/09/game-over.html

and the ot version with a frame and

 more stitching added. to say stitching is calming is one of the biggest understatements

ever. 

 ETA ermine stitch










neki desu
 

which way?

vertical or horizontal?
have you ever tried stitching french knots to relieve stress? it works!
today i have to go to the post office and see what's happening with the knitting machine. it left belgium on the 4th and  although already here i still don't have it. pan european panic: france, belgium and spain. france being a very kind french lady who has been the liaison between the belgian lady and i.
 armed with the tracking number to the post office and let's see how it goes.




neki desu
 

quietly stitching

first of all thanks to all who have stopped by the exhibit and those who have left comments.

in my quest to reduce the number of ufos i have been quietly stitching and assembling the different surfaces i have around the studio.
these ones for example: shibori on silk, walnut dyed  plus machine stitch net on solvy embellished with puff paint during my puff paint period. 

i found out that by layering paints, especially metallics,

it took away that plasticky crafty look and gave it a molten metal quality. some very interesting surfaces can be created so it's worth more experimenting .

i like way the shibori resist lines complement the net.
the black  running stitches frame the net and bring the whole piece together, don't you think?

neki desu
 

a little book

(  ಠ_ಠ takes a while to format. blogger is getting less user friendly with the improvements. sigh)

the covers  fun with fabric and paints.the photos are not up to par- sorry! all the glitter and gilding

does not photograph well with natural light and too lazy to set up the lights. so bear with me.

this little booklet had been in process for an embarrassing while. i am happy to have finally finished it.

 the pages:

handwoven silk fabric sample.the warp started breaking after a while  even  after applying sizing.

it was cut and whatever had been woven was saved for better times.

hand  stitching and embellishing.the meshes were made by stitching on solvy , dissolving it and then painting and embellishing. i tend to produce surfaces and save them for future assemblages.

there's also angelina fiber- which is a trial to photograph- on the last page. i had to angle the book to be able to get an other than white splotch.

neki desu

when inspiration comes

it better find me working. a ufo no more.
and while at it giving the finishing touches i remembered that i had some handmade paper from when i had my paper making crush, just slightly previous to the invention of the light bulb. they were made from beaten esparto grass hankies used  by plumbers in those days to block and repair pipes. 

esparto is a jack of all trades which is, among other uses,  used to make the soles of the fashionable espadrilles that before becoming fashionable were poor people's shoes.

i was very pleased with the papers i got especially being a dilettante as i was and kept them for a future use. having spent a lot of time lately in making utilitarian stuff the time was ripe for a flight of fancy.



fast forward to smart phone age .the papers already treated with paint, foiled with gold leaf that i had since the time telegraph was invented and already being stitched with black silk
thread.

in need of a background for cohesion or, to use the latest  artspeak buzzword,

 to aid in the narrative ಠ-ಠ .

white 30gr lutradur stained with paynes grey 

some red smudgings and twin needle tucks.

how's that for a narrative?

the finished piece. have you tried taking photos of gold? difficult seems an understatement.

details. i used a little of blandina's gifted threads. i thought about keeping them for  god knows what in the future, but i don't think i'm immortal. better give them use now than asking to be buried with them, don't you think?

chi trova un amico trova un tesoro  ;-)

neki desu

fine tuning

changes in the background .

the color got shifted, as it was too yellow-orange, towards the burgundy to echo the yarn wisps. 

the black form was too dominant and distracting. it got downsized -being tyvek it  meant a hot iron-

and the color got turned down with a gold colored glaze. you can see it glowing in the center and it works well as a  focal point.still contemplating whether to do away with the top and bottom portions of lutradur. comments welcomed!

it's all coming together as a single narrative.

the beading.

beading on a very open knit is akin to having soup with a fork.

quite entertaining!

neki desu

still knits, but a change of pace

this is a work in progress. it was an ufo, but deanna's yarns got me itchy to get the needles out again.

processed linen knitting sample with paints. auditioning backgrounds.

trying to compensate the horizontals with the vertically cascading wisps .having thoughts about the backgrounds.there's going to be some beading too.

 oh well, this is why it's a wip.

neki desu

intermezzo

fumata turchese....

the weaving is going beautifully, as expected from the known behavior of organzine. side tracking to make a b'day card for a friend. she saved the mesh from a bouquet and gave it to me saying that i would find use for it. indeed. it's going back to her as a card.  needle felted merino serves as  background to the distressed mesh and a bit of sequin waste.some hand stitching, maybe some machine embroidery. 

hadn't stitched since summer when i was working on the lodz piece.

 it is still halfway, but it's proving to be soothing.stressed out people should be given stitching therapy.

outside is raining the proverbial cats and dogs.

neki desu


 

almost done

just needs some finishing touches and i can call  Plan A done.it will rest for a while to see if it needs something else. after that, beauty shots.
Plan B is on the beaming stage,threading today.


neki desu