IT MAY COME IN USEFUL!

'SPRING'

'SHOWERS'

I had two very interesting pieces (from my previous BLOG) to work with and explore further and that was always my intention until I had been enjoying some long overdue gardening time. I came indoors fresh with ideas to capture the notion that spring had finally arrived! I duly set to work and the first piece was printed, cut out and ready for stitching very soon after. Later that week I woke to the sound of torrential rain and all thoughts of more time in the garden promptly evaporated; piece number two was my response to the wet and windy weather viewed from my workroom window. 

When I have the sudden need to create a new set of prints for whatever I am working on I always start by looking in my box of what I fondly call misprints. These are in fact just simple 'failures' or 'backgrounds in waiting' but often make good base papers for printing over.  As the ideas were buzzing in my head I was quickly able to start work by utilising some of these papers. Sometimes I am so glad that I find it difficult to throw things away and work on the principal that it 'may come in useful' and it usually does!!

I used the same leaf stencils for both designs but not unsurprisingly the different colours I used gave a completely different feel to each piece. I like the effect of the spring colours melting subtly into the background whereas the stronger colours in the second one give more of a contrasting impression and louder impact.

I have been experimenting for some time with dense machine embroidery and complementary hand stitching for embellishment. These little 'landscapes' are pure imagination with the original idea coming from freshly opened 'geode' rocks and the stunning crystalline and mineral matter formations contained within the shells. The beads are a nod to the tiny crystals and whilst I am not a huge fan of beads they work extremely well as a foil to the matt embroidery threads. 

                                                                                   

This last piece was was an experiment to add a a wavy edge and I think and as experiments go this was a success. I very much like the soft finish as opposed to the straighter lines although both may have a purpose yet. I now need to give some thought to its function and method of presentation, could it even be a contender for 3D work? Lots to think about and consider especially as the textured surface is very tactile and wants to be touched! 

Finally, this is the work in progress from my last entry that very nearly didn't make it!  I just couldn't resolve how to finish the the final layer and it seemed to have been sitting around for ages. There were several shapes/motifs floating around and completely by accident I spilt the metallic blue circles across the surface and thankfully I liked what I saw. Perhaps this happy accident will prove to be the way forward when a resolution is too long in the waiting!!