My Latest Obsession... Stitch Journals

Over the last several months all of my creative focus has been on creating handmade cloth "Stitch Journals" in which I can experiment in and fill up. Here's an example of one of them...

I began by hand painting all of the fabrics, (Jacquard Textile Colors were mainly used). 

I then machine stitched the fabrics into pages to later hand-bind into the journal.

When I make the "blank" pages I like to add machine stitched lines and bits of machine stitched appliqué.

(I consider the journal to be "blank" until I fill the pages in with hand stitching.)

Those machine stitched lines, and appliquéd bits, act as "prompts"... 

jumping off points for my creativity to land... places for me to eventually fill in with my hand stitching once the journal has been hand bound into a book form. 

(Such as what you see in these photos of a completed journal.)

The hand-stitching creates a sort of non-verbal language. One that can be seen and also felt.

Something almost primitive, and very instinctual.

I take great joy in the whole process... 

from hand-painting, to hand-binding, to hand-stitching.

All of it is meditative, creative and fulfilling.

 And when it's complete, I feel so incredibly satisfied. 

I hope this obsession lasts for sometime.

Xo

New Work: Ragged Series

Back in January I began a new series of small stitched works which I am calling my 'Ragged Series'...

Ragged no. 2

In this series I continue to draw my inspiration from my local rural surroundings of Lancaster County, PA. Along with my usual interest in line and shape, I am also playing with texture and taking a wondrous deep dive into exploring the very wide range of local colors, including colors found in the farm fields and old barns, (of course!) to roadside farm produce and flower stands, to the lovely colors of Amish clothing, and old painted farm tractors... It's all fair game, and glorious to me!

Above is an example of how what I see is influencing me. On the right is one of my photos of a local road with old worn barns, and on the left is one of my 'Ragged' pieces. 

To achieve the colors and textures I am looking for, I begin with ripping and tearing bits of assorted fabrics of various weave and fiber content. 

I then individually hand paint each individual piece with different fabric paints and inks. 

The ones shown above were done with a combination of Jacquard and Setacolor paints 

and Tsukineko inks.

Ragged no. 6

Here's another example of local inspiration. Please note however, I don't reference any photos while I work, as I think it would hang me up with trying to get my brain to create more literally. Wishing to keep things abstract, I rely on trusting that I intuitively know these colors, and the rural "feel" I wish to communicate, from a long time of observation and study. I admit to being both surprised and tickled when afterwards I can go back and find photos that connect with what I've stitched. It further reinforces my faith in trusting my gut.

Ragged no. 7

(Inspired by old red barns and the shadows that hide in the corners.)

Ragged no. 8

To date I have completed 14 works in this series and am currently working on numbers 15 and 16. Generally, I tend to work in small series, rarely more than 15 pieces, often less, before moving onto a new subject, as I get so damned bored so easily. It is my true desire however to keep exploring this series at least through 2022. So far, so good... I'm still curious and interested!

I think that interest and curiosity in large part is due to how much I am enjoying the process of painting my own fabric. Above I'm playing with colors and patinas found on some of the old barns, including the wood, the roofs, the shadows... so much beautiful, subtle colors.

Below are a few more pieces from the series along with a couple of examples of local inspiration...

Ragged no. 11

Ragged no. 14

Ragged no. 13

Ragged no. 13 is my only square piece to date, but one of my favorites. 

When making this I was thinking about old red barns and farm fields.

~~~

So, that's what I'm up to these days. 

If interested, you can follow me on Instagram where I post each completed piece once listed in my Etsy shop. (To date, as I am writing this post, all but 2 of the 14 have sold, and I hope to list more soon.) 

xo