Friday Finish

I'm wondering... big finish?  or new beginning?
Today is it, the last day of my Saskatchewan Arts Board grant period.  Yesterday I handed in my final report and a CD full of 16 images of new work, all hand stitched with yarn.  Some of my work was more representational, some were impressionistic, some were abstract.  I started out with a few really great pieces, then made some really not-so-great pieces that I won't show you, and then finally ended with work I am extremely proud of.  I guess that's normal.  You can't force it, right?  You've seen most of my work (anything hand stitched with yarn since January) but I have this one I'd like to show you.  Some times I really like it.  Sometimes I don't.  It's inspired by a row of rocks at Sutherland Beach, an off-leash park with trails right in the city by the river.  I often go there with Buddy.

Now, this photo was taken after the art was started, to show you the spot where Buddy and I hike.  The art was started in my studio with just a very vivid memory of some early morning walks.  In my mind, there must have been a load of lovely flowers.  I laughed when I went back and realized there isn't much more than green and white here.  Oh well!  In the morning with my 'best friend', maybe I just feel a lot more colour.

Let's just go with that.

Here is how I started this particular one, placing felt and chopped yarns onto a felt sheet background.  Image this - I needle felted with a machine from Margot and nothing broke!  Woohoo - I guess that's a small miracle indeed.  I have struggled with felting and decided many times to give up.  hmmm... there's something about this Pfaff that works really well for me.

Above is me building up the background.  I'm not quite at the 'ugly phase' where I want to toss the whole thing.  No.  That comes after a couple long afternoons of handwork.  haha.  At least I recognize it when it happens and I know to push past it.

The top of the piece is the background.  The rocks are pieces of hand dyed felt I got years ago from Meinke Toy.  They are fabulous for rocks don't you think?  I felted them in, along with all the bits of yarns.  Then I began to stitch.

I stitched and stitched.  And I stitched some more.  This was a huge process.  I started it a few days before the Saskatoon Ex demo night.  That's when I began the pink flowers.

I personally love the pink.  There's some glistening purples in there too that look wet.  The choppy grey along the bottom was to be the path.  The rocks sit on a bit of a ledge, so I made the ground that would be more vertical have a deeper shade to it.  I've never the face of a slope like that so I'm not sure you can understand it without the original photo.

any who.

I stitched and stitched and did more and more stitching.  Some parts are still worked less than others, but I feel it's done.  Here it is - from my morning walk with Buddy the Border Collie.

8x15 inches, hand stitched

I wish you could see it as big as it really is!  It's 8x15 inches.  I could chop it in half and have a couple 8x6's.  yes/no?  One reason I like this embroidery is because it has my feelings in it.  It has the colours that express my joy and wonder and happiness from when I'm out with him.  This is good.  I feel like I was really able to express emotion in my work.  I did it!

So tell me: if you know the park and paths well, this is the spot where we sometimes turn off the main road loop, climb the little ledge, and cross over through a bit of an open field on a well work foot path.  See the golds at the top right?  that's the field you step up into.  If you know where am thinking about, do you feel the way my picture feels when you are there?  I'm curious.  I would love to hear from you!  : )

Again, thank you to the Saskatchewan Arts Board for supporting me to get to this point.  It's a good one!  Thank you also to Margot Lindsay for the use of the felting machine and the beautiful yarns of green, pink, and cream.  : )

Monday Recap

Hello!  What a busy weekend.  As you may have heard, the north half of our province has been plagued by wildfires and no rain.  It's never been this dry here ever.  The north half of the province is predominantly forests.  The south half (where I live) is predominantly farmland.  The latest numbers I've heard were 12,000+ people being displaced from their homes because the fires are out of control, threatening so many northern communities.  The evacuees are taking refuge in the cities and towns that are in the half of the province where I live.  It's very sad and scary for them as all we have to complain about is the heavy smoke in the air.  The photos of the outrageous fires are all over facebook.  I can't make the fires go out, but I knew we could help.  I'm writing to say we did, and it was so effortless.  I encourage you too to pitch in if you are nearby any evacuees.  There's always money that can be donated.  We are short of that right now, so here's what we did.  My kids and I packed up a huge bag of clothing for all ages & genders, boxes of toys, colouring books & buckets of crayons, rackets and balls, puppets, playing cards, swimsuits, toy trucks, cross stitch supplies for the elders, and pads & tampons too.  Some items we gathered at home, and then we headed to the dollar store and topped up with a few requested items we saw people talking about on facebook.  My kids were so happy to pitch in.  We drove to a local hotel, and sure enough, there were dozens of families standing outside, eating, getting some fresh air, and well... waiting.  There are still new evacuations, but the place we stopped at had folks there for over a week already!  Waiting.  Waiting to head back home to their communities.  There are folks all over - staying temporarily in North Battleford, Prince Albert, Regina, Moose Jaw, Saskatoon, etc etc...  7,000 or so just evacuated to Cold Lake, Alberta this past weekend.  If you are able, please give.  They need food, toiletries, snacks and drinks, clothing, bedding, and the kids need things to occupy them.  They get 3 meals a day but many are still hungry and the kids and pregnant mamas need more in-between food.  Check in with your local Red Cross or Salvation Army.  Most places I've been told have Red Cross volunteers on site to help with donation distribution.  There are also family pets in need of care.  The animal shelters are extremely busy.  It's very distressing.  It's so ridiculously easy to help, in fact, that we'll likely do it again tomorrow.  (hint hint)  Please join in!

On our way home over the Circle Drive bridge, my 2 youngest hollered, 'sand!'.  Really, it should have been 'river' but the darn thing is so dry this year.  So we continued home, picked up our pooch, I grabbed my camera, and we headed back to the river to play.  We stayed for hours.  The river is so shallow.  The sand extends about a third of the way into where the river usually is.

Someone couldn't stay out of the water!

The kids hauled rocks to the shore and tried building a sundial.  I love when they chose a very hardworking task.  The rocks were big and very heavy.  They love to work!  Later, the sun came out and she joined the dog for a swim.

high 5

Isn't this unreal?  This is what we tip-toed over to get to the sand.

Don't get me wrong - there's still flowing water and deeper parts.  But what fun we made out of it - right in the city too.  We played until the sun sunk behind the trees.

I hope you enjoyed my late Sunday Snapshots!  It was a really fun ending to a good day.  Be safe,

Sunday Snapshots

Out for a walk with my doggie to capture some more evergreen trees to stitch.

hanging, lush. soft new growth on a 30+ yr old tree. : ) 

in the park by the duck pond

That one above was edited to bring out the edges & depth of the foreground since it really blended with the background.  The next one is just too perfect - not edited one drop.  : )

across the road - not an evergreen, but so similar with needles & cones

As I walk, I say 'wait' and I stop to take a photo... then keep walking until I say 'wait' and take another few photos... Buddy is so used to it he just pauses instantly until I'm ready to keep walking.  He's such a great puppy dog! xo

whooooooooooo's a good boy?  WHOOOOOSE a good boy!?  lol

Have a terrific day folks!