Handwork Published! and Friday Finishes

Yes - AGAIN.  : )  This time you can find my yarn embroideries in the pages of NORO Magazine.

Knitting magazine based on Noro Yarns

I found this publication while standing in line at Michael's Craft Store.  I adore NORO yarns.  When I leafed through the last issue, I noticed an article about an artist who creates art scarves with NORO, couching them and stitching on soluble.  Well, I couldn't resist.  I had been doing yarn embroideries for about a year, but only recently feeling like I'm coming in to my own and creatiing a recognizable grouping of art.  I gave them some images and they got back to me right away about doing an interview.  !   I think the email reply said, 'our deadline is next week.  Can you provide images and be available for an interview before them?'

Well gee.  I wasn't about to say no.  The only problem was that I had only one embroidery done solely with NORO yarns!!  I cleared my calendar and did nothing but stitch for five days and nights.  I created some crap.  I also created some gems that I am very excited about.  And so I sent images of my brand new pieces along to Soho Publishing just prior to the deadline.  Talk about flying by the seat of my pants!!  lol  Of course if it wasn't working out, I would have no problem declining... but I had to give it my best shot.

September Winds, 2015 4x4 inches (available)

Early the following week, I was interviewed over the telephone by a journalist in New York.  She was AWESOME to talk with.  And so - it's been a long wait.  This magazine issue has been on the shelves in the US for a couple weeks now.  It just arrived in Canada.  (Coincidentally, Michaels carries the magazine but not the yarn.  Prairie Lily Knitting in Saskatoon carries the yarn, but not the magazine.)  You can also get both from the NORO Website.  The yarns are terrific for me because of the colours available in just one ball.  It's perfect for art.  In fact, I thing the yarn IS art.

Now I make more embroideries on black, framed it black which looks so sharp.  I have more for sale directly and available exclusively at Handmade House in Saskatoon.  Here are a few of my latest.

Spring at Cranberry Flats, 2015

This is how they look framed...

Spring at Cranberry Flats, 2015
4.5x4.5 inches in an 8" frame (available)

Canola, 2015
4.5x4.5 inches in an 8" frame (available)

I did it all with Noro yarns!  This next one is 5"x16" and has a few different yarns in.  It's done on black and framed in a similar style.  I love it.  Stitching these are a real adventure for me.

Prairie Ditch, 2015
6x15 inches in a  9x17inch frame (available)

Here is my FAVOURITE so far...

The Grass is Greener, 2015
5x5" art(available)

Many of these are based on my oil pastel sketches.  They are all framed.  Some are here at my studio and some are hanging at Handmade House.

There you have it!  The magazine is also at all Shopper's Drug Mart locations, and so likely in a lot of other places in Canada.  Beware.  The article is small, but the photos are BIG.  Look at the size of those French Knots!  lol  You can eat them for breakfast.  There are two little 4.5" embroideries that got a full page spread.

Thank you so much Noro Magazine, Noro Yarn, and especially to Renee Lorion in New York who did the interview.  What a treat!!

look how big 'September Winds' is!!  : )

p.s. in Saskatoon, Prairie Lily Knitting carries a selection of Noro / Silk Garden.  That's where I bought mine.  : )

New Embroideries

I've been stitching and working at Handmade House and stitching and working at Handmade House.  I took a big plunge into more yarn embroideries.  After hanging out with the painters, I really wanted to push myself with the yarns and approach it like painting.  I had some variegated balls of yarn and took them apart, winding and twisting them into smaller skeins.  Then I had them all out before me and slowly put some pieces together based on some favourite images of mine.

September Winds, 2015

I finished off several in the last week.  They aren't framed.  I'm not sure what I'll do them.  Isn't that always the dilemma!?  Still, they were a wonderful personal challenge.  I did my best to keep it loose and chunky, and not get to perfect.  I really like how colourful they are!

Avens, 2015

Those pink blobs are from a photo I took at my friend Bernie's.  They open up into fluffs called, 'Prairie Smoke'.  The whole patch of them give the impression of smoke on the ground.  I'm not sure you can make it out.  I've been keeping this photo for a couple years now, waiting for the right moment.  This seemed like it.  The embroidery is busy, but I like it.  On the black background, it feels like an oil pastel.

The last one I want to show you was from a grove at Bridget's acreage.  We were standing on the hill taking in the big view when I looked down into the trees and say the yellow just glowing in the shadows!  I loved it so much.  And so...  I stitched it.

The blue/periwinkle blobs are meant to represent asters.  I wasn't planning on putting them in, but I think it really added to bring the piece to life.  These are all small, likely as big as you see them on your screen.   Well... whether you like them or not, they were a terrific experience for me.  Each blended streak of yarn just stitched itself out like a brushstroke thick with paints.  Let me know what you think, and maybe I'll show you more.  ; )

Always a work in progress!

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.  : )

First Finish of 2014!

Lookie!  I'm done.  I started this last month.  It's all yarn and it's all done by hand.  I've been debating whether to show you the source photo first or last.  I sent a sneak peek to a woman I met in one of my classes and she nailed it!  I was pretty happy about that!  Whew.  So I guess I'll show you the source photo last...

Where Sunlight Falls, 2014

* * * You can click on the image to see it larger on your computer screen.  It IS larger than most of my hand stitched work.  That was the point.  I wanted to get bigger with my work, but closer with the subject matter.  Where Sunlight Falls is 6x15" and it took many, many nights.  Sorry - it's not for sale.  This piece was made just for me on my downtime between shows and commission.  It was a good diversion and (what I think) is a step forward for my creativity.  I wanted to see if I could move away from copying.  I am good at copying.  Copying is easy.  I am not good at abstract.  So this is a step toward impressionism.  I am feeling so good about it.  I feel like I really pulled it off.  It turned out how I hoped it would, matching the vision in my big fat imagination.

Where Sunlight Falls, 2014 - detail.  This is nearly actual size.

So - the source... what inspired this?  G. totally guessed it.  It was from last summer, on my way to my mother's cabin.  I drove down that familiar old gravel road off the highway.  THE DITCHES!  Oh the ditches in July were just overflowing with teenie flowers.  It was hot, hot and super sunny that day.  The thing I loved about the photo I took was the height of sunshine and the intense depth of shade.

In my work, I increased the contrast to emphasize what my heart saw.  : )  I had some pretty intense feelings when looking down into this ditch.  Like I've said before, when I die please bury me in a ditch on the prairie. : )  Then you'd never have to bring me cut flowers.  hehe

Hand Stitching New & Old

This week, while nursing my own cold as well as my children's, I went 'uplugged' again and began to work on pieces for a new project.  I keep one inspirational file on my desktop that is full of personal photos just for handstitching ideas.  One in particular looks fairly straightforward, but will no doubt be a long haul to finish.  I'm ready.  I put cloth onto one of my scroll frames, marked the size I'd be working on, and began setting up the background and finding the right fibres for the job.

Call me crazy, but I had this in mind.  Look at all the stitches!  Can you imagine it?  It was spring and the new growth was there in the old.  I love the colors so much.  (click to view larger)

my photo:  new and old grasses

I did a quick sketch with colored pencils first.

I always keep my photo and sketchbook in front of me while I stitch.  I built up some colors first to help me know where the yellows and greens are placed once I start stitching.

no.  I'm not left handed.  : )

I stitched for three days and I'm still not done.

I stitched out all the greens.  Then I stitched out the yellows.  Then I over stitched the greens again.  Now I'm read to add to the yellows to create some blending.  Then I can start on the details.  WHEW!  Here's where it's at for now...

It might still look like a mess, but this is the building in progress.  I dropped a needle and as I went to pick it up, I noticed the underside.  I though it was worth a photo at least for interest's sake. : )

I'm careful not to waste my colors by taking the next stitch near to where I left the last.  A lot of my fibres were from Margot and replenishing is no easy task.  I don't feel like flipping my work surface to knot or tuck in all those threads, so I will do that later.

And now I'm off to finalize several Hallowe'en costumes!  Bring it on!  I have my sweet tooth ready.  : )
Linking to WIP Wednesday @ TN&TN.

Finished It Friday : )

Wow.  Do I ever feel like I've accomplished things this week.  I feel ahead of the game regarding deadlines (knock on wood!).  I did not love the 'Fields of Gold' that I made for a commission, so I started up another simple autumn scene.  The colors are much more subtle, based on a photo I took on the way to Beaver Creek.

auditioning fibres

It was the end of summer and there were Prairie Coneflowers growing by the roadside.  I stayed up all night adding the hand stitching to it.  I loved every stitch.

It looks quite stunning in the frame I have at home.  That was the problem with the other one.  I didn't love the color scheme.  This one was an after-thought and I really love it.  It makes me happy.

Roadside, 2013  (actual size)

I matted all my other work and dropped it all off to be framed.  (!!!)  We picked some really pretty frames!  I can't wait to see them all once they are back.  Before I headed out, I was sure to take high res photos of each one.  SO... since you told me this is not boring, here they all are once again.  : )

September Grasses, 2013

Fields at Floral Road 2, 2013

Autumn Blonde, 2013

Hills at Jackfish, 2013

Yay!  Now off to the Quilt Show I go!  I'll be the woman with the red shopping cart.  hehe

Threadpainting - Up Close and Personal

I've been busy hand stitching now, and loving every second of it.  It is such a beautiful and intentional process.  This commission is nearing completion!  : )))

my universal floor stand makes a good helper while I stitch even without a hoop

I stitched in all the little wolf willow leaves in silvery sage cotton & rayon for sheen.  Then I'm adding in some hand dyed blues to open up the machine stitching a bit to let the water show through the boughs.

It's a good process, and the slow hand stitching at the end feels so terrific - like doing a binding on a quilt.

work in progress - stitching in the wolf willow leaves

I think handwork helps the maker to really spend time enjoying her creation.  Up close and personal.  ; )