For centuries women have used cloth as a tool of comfort and as an expression of beauty within their homes. Creating cloth for warmth, cloth for shelter, our female predecessors embellished these linens with hand stitch using laborious and time consuming techniques thereby enhancing the functional beauty of objects which enveloped and protected their families. Inspired by these women I hope my creations pay tribute to and recognise the devotion expressed in cloth by our female ancestors .







''the use of traditional often time consuming process alludes to the devotion of a mother''. c K. A. Ruane 2007







Saturday, December 18, 2010

shades of white, inside and out...

Awoke this morning to a blanket of the white stuff. Appropriate really whichever way you look at it as next to my bed is my glass ''precious'' cabinet where I keep all my cherished cloth, old lace, found lace, gifted lace, along with Marimekko fabric, floral fabrics, embroidered pieces, samples, inspiration in general. I had a kind of revelatory moment as I was lying there trying to force myself from under the duvet. What is it about this piece I am working on that doesn't ''get'' me where it should?? It's obvious.....It's too soon, I hadn't reached ''that'' point yet. It is not the finished article or any real semblance of the finished article. It is a working sample, a sample that will inform what I finally come up with, a sample that will feed the next sample and on and on until my final piece is ready for the first week in february.
So, after a battle throught the snow and a VERY slow trip in the car to get essential supplies I emptied my ''precious''cabinet and laid some of it next to my work, another means to inform and inspire. Later today I will start another piece. It may become part of the finished article , it may not but it will definitely be there in spirit as a tool that has got me there. I feel so much calmer about this now. I feel as if I am working the responsible way, the organised way.

I had to show you these little glimpses of my snowbound abode. I am not a gardener in any sense, loose or otherwise. I am delighted if I can manage to maintain a pretty hanging basket at my front door and a little greenery with berries so the birds don't starve. My hanging basket is now anything but pretty but the good news...berries are still reachable and I have witnessed two very cold and shivery little birds feeding today so all is not lost even if the bush does look a little bedraggled.

Have a lovely weekend, stay warm, stay dry and stay safe....

9 comments:

Hoola Tallulah said...

WOW, I wish I were restrained enough to work in white, it looks so beautiful, we have lots of snow here too!

monika@mysweetprairie.ca said...

Gorgeous goargeus! I'm bouncing up and down in my chair! lol

: )

Anonymous said...

Love your inspiration fabrics! I'm suffering from seriously fragmented attention at the moment and can't really plan anything..

Elizabeth said...

Enjoy your time with your needle while the snow is falling down outside.

Have a great weekend.

Anonymous said...

Beautiful pieces you have there!
And I just love that basket!
Have a great weekend too!

Jacky said...

Love the frothy whiteness of your inspiration fabrics/laces....sooo sumptuous!

Chilly.....so nice to know those little birdies can still find berries. Isnt nature a wonder?

Have a beautiful weekend.

Jacky xox

Tammie Lee said...

so much beauty I can barely look, my heart swirls like snowflakes ;-}

jill said...

Sounds great, garden looks good too.

meandering pearl said...

its just so stunning!!! {not just this post though, but every illuminating photo!!!