Some stitching and some book marks.

 I have been progressing the conversation with the stitching of the brick wall. In small increments!

I took the test piece of linen and transferred the marks back here. I then gathered the threads I had selected and started doing some small split back stitching as outlines of the stones in the wall.

It was interesting that after doing these 6 stones I felt I knew enough to stop testing and begin stitching the length of linen. I determined from the test that the two main colours were going to be the darker grey and lighter brown; with only occasional use of the lighter grey and the darker, rustier brown. 

I think that will make for a coherent look and a little bit of interest here and there. Also the lighter grey pretty much disappears, and the darker rustier brown just dominates too much (plus there aren't many stones in the wall that are that colour).

As ever I just like gathering all the bits together and looking at them!

Packing up is underway - here are all the prepped reels and the linen ready for taking back to Australia.

As I was tidying up my art table in preparation for leaving, I came across a heap of scrap white paper and thought it might be perfect for some book marks. So off I went and cut it into strips and did a few whimsical flower bookmarks.

You can never have too many bookmarks!

Doodling along

 I mentioned back here that I had set up a wee doodle practice because I thought I might enjoy having a very small thing to turn to each day.

So far, I have done pretty well with it - I think I have missed one day (so did two lines the next day) and one evening I realised I hadn't done it, and with only ten minutes to go before dinner was ready I thought let's see what I can get done - and I managed half a row.

It's been interesting to notice how much I have enjoyed the maybe ten or 15 minutes I spend each day doing what is really, a fairly mindless task. I think it has enabled me to empty my mind and simply focus.

It has been little bit like a circuit breaker and then of course there is the lovely simple feedback loop that shows me that I have done a little something.

I looked at my container of watercolours and just went - I don't ever use the browns - now is the time! I had five to choose from:

And so it begins.

Rather than simply paint directly into the shapes, I decided to try a bit of that watercolour thing of laying down the water first, then adding the pigment to it. Clearly some work better than others!

Some days the rows happen quickly!

The day I did two days in a row, in one sitting.

I think I did two rows in one day here because they were so tiny.

The ten minutes before dinner day!

And the next day.

And where I am up to now. Nearly time to draw up another one I think.

I have absolutely no purpose with this except to paint some shapes each day. It is proving to be both simple and soothing.

Doodling, lettering, colouring

 I am keeping pretty busy on return and have lots of arty things on the go.

The other morning at Biblio I started playing around with ideas about how to write the 5 'S' words starting with Stillness, that I blogged about on Sunday.  I am thinking of making maybe five small pieces that would fit in a frame similar to the black one I tested them in when in Scotland.

I wrote the word love out by hand in green; then used pencil to create perhaps nicer letters; and went over it with red. However, and no real surprises, the pencil stayed under the red even when I rubbed it out, and it looked a bit iffy (photo 2). And for comparison I wrote direct with red and the colour stayed much brighter, even tho the photos barely show it!

I then gave myself a little task of creating a small sampler of the pens I thought I could use to do these small works.

And it worked out well.

And then for the first time in days the sun came out as it set, and caught the page and looked beautiful!

And for no good reason other than I am doing so many small things towards bigger things I thought I might try a doodle a day kind of thing. It was more about doing a small thing each day if I can. And by small I mean really small, like simply filling in a square or a few colours on a mixed up kind of grid. Who knows if I even do it; but it was meditative to draw things up.

I tested the idea out in my journal.

Decided the X was too distracting and added a few more of this and that, here and there.

And then went and had a play on a piece of watercolour paper 10 x 15cm. And inked in the lines. 

Now...to colour them in!

I am trying to stay away from over thinking it...but I doubt I will.! I will select  series of colours to use and try to stick with them.

Flower cards

I learned that these simple flower cards, blank inside, were popular when they sold out at the recent studio sale.

As a small gift to myself on a difficult day, I went to the studio and sat with them, quietly painting and drawing nine new cards.

Watercolour pencils were sharpened! It is hard to think of a more satisfying moment than having a box of beautifully sharpened pencils.

And so it begins with scribbled shapes across the card. I tend to follow the same pattern for them as it makes it easier for folk to select.

And then I add water...

And then the outlines get drawn in loose way.

And then I package them up with a lovely envelope and they are done.

I texted a friend the images of the finished ones and she promptly bought seven cards! 

So I am back to the drawing board, but in the nicest way.

Daily Words refresh

Barry and I have had a daily word practice since 2004 when I made our first set of words whilst we were living in Hobart for a year. I have written several more sets over time for folk - in particular rainbow daily words. In these sets I had written 70 words (10 for each colour of the rainbow).

It has come to pass that after 21 years of use, our cards set needs replacing. One morning recently, mindfulness simply separated in two. We thought that several others could go the same way, so we sat down to work out which words of this set, the verb set of 70 and the noun set of 70 we would like to take with us into the future.

It was an interesting task. We did it separately, then came together, to discuss. There were lots of overlaps and the occasional different ones but we landed very happily on a set of 50 cards.

This allows for 7 words for each rainbow colour (49) and leaves a blank as well. We kind of like the blank; although we never really know what to expect on the days we draw it...

We love the number 7 so 7 x 7 seems like a good way to go!

The first step is always cutting up the cards. They measure 5cm x 1.5cm so a lot of it needs to be done by hand.

The next step was seeing if I could still write with a dipping pen!  I couldn't remember the last time I did proper pen calligraphy by hand so this was a real test. (I am now thinking it was maybe 2022 - a commission I did??). I had to track down my nib and find my watercolours, then mix the colour. I liked the colour but in these first few attempts I didn't have it loose enough and the pen was really scratchy on the surface. Nothing flowed, including my hand! It was wobbly and wild.

So I loosened the watercolour, cleaned out the pen and rinsed it, and then sat down and wrote and wrote and wrote for a while and gradually got back into my groove.

I also gave myself a bit of ground because working on such a small piece of card (5cm x 1.5cm) is incredibly awkward. You are working so hard to not have it slip or move that you can rarely relax and simply let it flow. The tension is real!

Here are the first seven words - in red. 

Orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo violet remain to be done!

Getting there...red, orange, yellow, green and blue done.

And indigo and purple/violet for the win!

I started out with plans for 5 sets, but settled for 4 because I used so many extras for the ones where I wrote badly. Still four sets will be great - one for us, one for a  friend and two to sell. 

Barry has begun making the bowls that will hold them. Here is the first one. 

It is such a lovely practice. It helps set the mood for the day, and gives a quiet moment of reflection before we get into things.  The bowls plus words will be available for sale we hope at the Closing Down Sale next weekend. They will form part of the new work sale - where new things re 10% off (everything else is at least 50% off!!!).

Simply Being

My book "Simple Being" is finished.

This book and its words has been swirling around in my head for years, and has had many, many, imagined manifestations. Now here we are with one of them finally completed.

It is a simple accordion or concertina book, with the individual pages stitched together using a figure eight stitch and crochet cotton.

It can be read by simply turning the pages; or by having it stand in its pleated form. With light shining through the tiny pierced perforations.

The covers are a light grey book cloth over card; and the title page has a piece of tracing paper held by three French knots, overlayed over some pebbles with the title written with pencil. The piercing outlines only appear above and below the tracing paper overlay; they do not follow the full pebble or stone. Nor is there any swirling over the top of the pebble forms.

The first 'opening' or page. The first of the words are the words I began with and which have been somewhat talismanic in my way of remembering our times in Scotland. Forever, I am grateful that in our times there, I walk and look slowly. I look in a different way to how I walk and look in Maleny.

I have tried to sequence the words such that you feel like you could be doing these things alongside me.

Some lovely thoughts are expressed throughout - the notion of being able to 'be' lightly...

To pause, and act warmly. I like the feeling that conveys of kindness and warmth as we act towards and for others. Listening softly has me sitting and ever so gently and softly trying to listen to the quiet.

Holding kindly feels like you might be holding space, or holding others in your heart...kindly. Ahh how wonderful to shine quietly as we rest - that small glow that is ours to share and give, emerges and makes its way outwards and towards folk.

And then we breathe deeply, and go gently into the future...

I am really happy with this version of this book. I have plans and thoughts and dreams of more books using these words - I can see different ways of writing the words; different ways of illustrating the pages; different colours and layouts and bindings. I think they will be words I return to and return to and return to; but I am ever so grateful I have made it to here.