Erosion




At long last, a finish! :)

This one is actually quite significant, not least because of the hours and hours of hand stitching in it.  Observe:




The fabrics are some of my rust-dye experiments, and the leaves, I picked up on a golf course.

In fact, as soon as I saw the leaves, I saw this piece exactly as it is.  It's funny how sometimes the oddest things inspire you!




Although I didn't see each of the stitches exactly as they are, I did see the overall patterns, and knew I wanted to used exclusively small straight stitches, cross stitches, and those double inset x's. There was something about the simplicity of these stitches that I knew would be right for this work. 

While I was making it however, I found these little blank spaces - almost like feature squares - and decided to put these little tree-type things in them. They're actually modelled on a little spore I found on one of my walks, but they ended up looking quite tree-like. (Which is never a bad thing as far as I'm concerned. ;) ).



I still haven't decided whether to leave the white pieces blank, or tack them down with a white seed stitch in case of loss of fusing adhesion years hence - but haven't made a decision about it yet.




This piece is also significant because it is so very much about time - which, as you know, is a subject that has been playing on my mind more than ever lately. And so, as I stitched, I thought about time, and how it erodes our bodies, our minds; how it turns bustling cities into archaeological discoveries and mountains into sand.

And these thoughts gave me peace, somehow.

Realizing how insignificant I am in the grand scheme of things, gave me the answers I didn't know I was searching for.

What does it matter if my body chooses to fight me so hard that I never achieve the pinnacle of what I can be as an artist - if a thousand years hence, no one will know I existed anyway?

That achievement is just for *me*.  It doesn't mean it's not important, but leaving some kind of artistic legacy is not as important as leaving love and happy memories in the minds and hearts of those who actually know me right now.

And so, like sand, my priorities will shift - perhaps on a daily basis, depending on how I feel that day. If I am feeling "sparky" as I call it, then there is time for dayjorb, and spouse, and family, and friends AND art.

And if I am not, then I must pick and choose from my options that particular day.

It doesn't mean that I'm not as ambitious as I ever was about my art - it just means that there are some things I won't sacrifice in pursuit of it.



Phew!  

And now I've plans for a new hand stitched piece, which I'll tell you more about on Wednesday. (Does anyone else think it's ironic that as I have less time, I seem to spend more of it on things that will take longer? lol)

Until then...

Kit 120

Kit Lang

9 comments:

  1. Fabulous Kit - I love it!

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  2. Anonymous25.11.13

    Ficou muito bonito! Parabéns!
    Um abraço!
    It was very cute! Congratulations!
    Hugs!
    Egléa

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  3. Lovely work, Kit. Simply lovely.

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  4. It was worth every single stitch!! Regarding the white fabric sections...I rather like the lack of stitching on them....but for security why not just do a running stitch close to the outside edge......

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  5. So beautifully simple, yet so intricate! I absolutely love it, and your thoughts on it, also. I've kind of been going thru a midlife crisis of sorts, and your words make so much sense. I'm glad I took the time to click on your blog to read further.

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  6. First off, I love this piece. Your hand stitching is wonderful and I love the patterns. I also "get" what you are saying about time and what is important. The less time I have, the more important choosing wisely becomes!!

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  7. I really like this piece. It's funny you wrote about time. The piece conveys, age, time.

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  8. Kit, how did you handle the leaf application, are they the real McCoy, or did you use them as tools with which to stencil? If it's a trade secret, that's okay, you can tell me it's 'magic.'

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  9. What a fabulous piece and interesting reflections too. Food for thought for us all I think

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