I embarked on a journey of embroidering on spheres with flowers. The process involved felting, stitching and sewing. The daisy is a universal symbol of happiness, as well as a symbol of life, and that has been my beginning. As a visual artist and florist I love the intricate beauty of flowers and the profound connection they offer to the cycle of life.
There is more to create, a sanctuary where happiness can bloom.
In 2022 I took up the challenge of hand stitching an icon a day for a year. That's 365 icons, many more threading the tiny eye of a needle.
It's been a lot of fun and along the way I have learnt a few things. I decided it would be full of happiness, things I had done, people who interacted, my garden and of course my cat Bizzel is there too. When I look at it now it is colourful, cheerful and full of memories.
I used a 10inch hoop. Would use a 12 inch if I did it again as small icons are hard to get detail. The wedges for each month are small so detail is difficult.
Keeping a drawing and story of each icon was invaluable in catching up
Always having needle threaded and embroidery handy to just pick up and do.
I decided in February to make the icons all face the same way so the finished piece when framed didn’t need turning to view.
December 31st has a happy face icon as I finished what was a challenge. In New Zealand we are the first in the world to see the New Year in. 2023 a new project underway.
So many happy memories tied up in stitch.
The digital world is a constant but Brooklyn Art Library has both. You can create a book and it will be digitised for others to see anywhere in the world. It also has a physical form where people can touch and read the books creatives have made.
It was a fun process to fill the 27 pages. I rebound the book and gave it a spine as it started yawning. I’m not against yawning books. I have made a few myself as they get fatter with collage additions.
“Wearing Out” is available to view online.
https://www.sketchbookproject.com/library/S2628949
Flip through the pages and leave a comment if you can or click favourite so I know you’ve seen it.
Me.
I took on the task of embroidering a “Puzzle."
The outline is done first with double cross stitch and then all the shapes filled in with whatever stitches and colours you choose. As I’m new to embroidery I chose the colours I had most of.
Cream, variegated cream and fawn, white and brown.
I darted all over the place filling in random shapes. It was fun to pick up and complete a small square.
At the end I added the lighter green as felt it needed that with some black and sparkly thread I bought.
This way it became more balanced with the colours spread out. I’m not one to plan a process. I make it up as I go.
The sparkly threads don’t show up well in the photo but in real life they dance across the canvas.
Sheaf stitch, Amadeus,sprats head, triangles, diamonds, Rhodes, Jessica’s, eyelets, smyrna’s, double cross stitch have now been handed to my vocabulary.
I used various thicknesses of thread from single DMC to Perle 8 and 5. Any thread works and can be layered for a special effect with texture.
The basic pattern can be found here but as I say I made up many other patterns.
https://www.stitchers-paradise.com/Canvas_Embroidery/JHI/JeanHiltonBooks.html
Bookmaking has its challenges. After spending time cutting pages, stitching a cover and binding that bundle, the first page often poses fear and anxiety.
What if I make a mistake?
I don’t really know what to write?
Shall I just leave the book blank?
This blank page is daunting.
Start at the second page. A quote is always a good way to start as someones else's words can give you inspiration.
Randomly paint a few pages.
Colour on a page can give you objects or patterns that you can make out. It's called pareidolia. Just like we see the ‘man in the moon.’ In some dyed paper I saw a blue splodge as an eye and so embroidered a few stitches.
Give things a go. There are no mistakes.
Every year Nelson showcases the Changing Threads National Contemporary Textile Art Awards. It is organised by Arts Council Nelson and held in the fabulous new Refinery on Hardy Street.
I entered my artwork 'Invisible Threads' and was thrilled to be a finalist and attend the opening.
The exhibition runs until 20 March 2021
"The scars tell the story and the stitches replace the words.
The emotional scars of surgery, the fear and the bad memories all remain invisible.
It’s about survival and strength, the mending and knitting together to build a relationship with art.”
The exhibition runs till 20 March 2021
“My life is a dot lost among thousands of other dots.” Yayoi Kusama
Yayoi Kusama has a fascinating history. I admire her gumption in standing up and creating art, despite her mother destroying some of it. She is a Japanese contemporary artist and at 91 is still creating.
In 2009 I saw her “Mirrored Years” exhibition in Wellington. The outside of the City Gallery was a mass of dots. The mirrors inside reflecting light and colour in an amazing kaleidoscope. The dots have became her trademark and she began creating “Infinity Rooms.”
The mirrored fabric represents both her dots and mirrors. The media used is stitching, dyeing and collage.
Having only grey linen during lockdown, I used red and yellow dye to brighten things up.
Never too old, so the saying goes.
Recently I joined up to a Sue Stone online portrait stitch course. I’m not a great one for ‘process’ but the course is designed for practise on the basics. The next stage is for more individual detail. I’m really enjoying it.
Learning anything new can be a challenge. Last year I joined an embroidery group. Who could imagine there are so many stitches!
My husband had a saying, “You have to have the gear to do the job.” That was to justify every power tool and gadget he bought.
I’m getting there. I have books and and kit. Its quite exciting learning a new skill and I'm planning on using it in my art.
I encourage everyone to give it a go.
Embroidery is slow but satisfying. I have had to set a few goals though, otherwise it will not be finished until next year. The push is on to do a row a day. Progress is being made. My first sampler.
When something wears out you either repair, replace or renew. I've played a lot of sport and my knee has suffered various injuries.
These injuries were something a plaster wouldn’t fix so in March I had a knee replacement.
My surgeon could well become the invisible stitcher. A running stitch with dissolving thread.
Recently my artwork has included many varieties of stitches as I learn to embroider.
4 months later and I’m still recovering.
Motivation is not high up on the list for finishing a project I started quite a few months ago.
This great initiative organised by St Vinnies in Wellington saw me busy over Christmas. I've enjoyed every stitch and bonded with Jessie pollock very early on.
My process is about making a beginning and things develop from there. Using raw threads shows the workings of the piece.
I have a stash of treasured stuff that is very old and fitted perfectly into the vintage theme. I’m grateful for the donations from friends when tidying their cupboards. The tatting came from my late Mother’s sewing box. It had a label DIC 2/6d and i used her embroidery thread. The blanket for the nurturing all the women did.
I contacted her Grandson and this is his recollection.
" Jessie Pollock was born in 1863 Jessie married twice. The first, against her mother’s wishes when she was about 22, in 1886. Henry was a scion of an English clerical family of some repute, but had been sent to the colonies to redeem himself, it would appear. His occupation was given as bottler on the marriage certificate, so presumably he was working in a brewery.. The marriage ceremony was given publicity in the local papers in Dunedin, as the bride wept throughout the ceremony, and having said “I do”, dashed out to the graveyard area accompanied by her puzzled spouse and they spent the the next few hours discussing matters. The upshot was that she went back to her mother! 5 years later in 1891, she divorced him, amid attendant publicity in the local Otago Witness paper, and later had, at age 33, a very successful marriage to Bob Garrett. Nothing of this earlier marriage was ever talked about in the family. Indeed, it was only when we were examining the marriage certificate between Bob and Jessie that we noticed that she was defined as “divorced” rather than the usual spinster! This set us off on a hunt to discover what had taken place. She is reputed to have met Bob whilst out riding a horse along the banks of the Taieri River, Mosgiel area. She ducked her head to go under a tree branch, insufficiently as it turned out ,and off came her bonnet. Bob was minding his own business, sitting by the river bank, and laughed at her embarrassment. Jessie turned her steed around and proceeded to to give Bob her opinion of people who laugh at others’ misfortune. So! Bob picked up her hat and thus she went and married him! Jessie did have strong opinions, regarding Temperance, and Suffrage, and worked to improve the lot of women in general. She and her mother both signed the petition. She wrote to the ODT, under the pen name of Lola, on numerous occasions.”
Thanks to Malcom Garrett her Grandson for the information.
view the link for more information.
https://nzhistory.govt.nz/politics/womens-suffrage/petition
Jessie and her mother Janet appear on sheet 86
Old photos have an energy that fills me with happiness. Sepia or black and white they have distinct clues about the era they were taken. The clothes, the stance, the interaction. Dominant genes passed on can show uncanny similarities.
When a baby is born relatives search for likenesses. “He looks so like his Grandmother.”
“Where does his red hair come from?"
These inherited characteristics make you part of your DNA family.
Now with DNA testing kits you can have a link to family you never knew you had.
I’m about to start using old photos on fabric to create my next piece.
When my sister visits she take great pride in rearranging the ‘Cushies.’ This physical presence of her contemplating her next move, appears like a draughts player with a new strategy.
The humble pin cushion is its own work of art, with a new artwork everyday. This re arranging is a bit like life. You need to make adjustments, change things up a little, make something appear new and different.
Maybe it’s become an interactive artwork.
Beading and embroidery go hand in hand. It’s not something I've done before but the process is somewhat challenging. At first I started with silk thread and chain stitch. When part way through I moved onto the beading. Three beads at a time on a fine needle and then a knot at the back to make sure the stitch didn’t come undone.
I was surprised how quickly it grew.
My cat showed a complete lack of interest.
