All in a day's...

We have been away for a week, visiting the Shetland Islands, and it was wonderful.  It was as far north as either of us have ever been and we had an amazing time.  Whilst we were away the weather was kind, so it was bit of a shock the system to wake this morning at the cottage to a gale blowing, about 50mph, gusting this way and that.

We managed our daily walk to the cove with some entertaining moments - both of us stuck on one leg  at times as the wind was so strong it stopped us putting the other leg forward and down!

So it was pretty much an indoor day today doing bits of this and bits of that.

The sea at the cove was wild and crashing.

The sun made a valiant effort to burst forth through the clouds.

And was rather marvellous to observe through the salt spray that was blown across everywhere.

I did some washing - you know when you have to make the most of a good drying day!?!

It was hilarious - I have never been so buffeted in my life, but I got it done. Barry was working in the shed and photographed me thru the window.

Note the pegs that have been blown over and into the fence; and the roof slate in the basket to stop it blowing further away!

In between times I have been slowly dyeing more thread and the work I am imagining is coming together more in my head and in scribbled notes in my book.

I had to purchase some new wooden pegs for rolling the threads onto and they arrived during the week, so I rolled the most recent batches, and labelled them.

I am quite fond of the devils-bit scabiosus, and the lichen (off a rock in our garden).

 Part of my job now is getting the proper names for everything so I have a good record.

And because I looked around the studio (i.e. kitchen bench, lounge room coffee table) and wondered what next? I pulled out the sticks we collected from the beach last weekend and the horse's hair and wool we had detached from a barbed wire fence and went off to make some brushes.

Who knows what might happen next or how they might get used, but they are ready and waiting in my tool kit!

Barry made a much tidier one from horses' hair than me.

But I think they have some potential!

All in all a pretty good indoor day...

Cottages, gardens and stitches

I have been enjoying the quiet moments - stitching, reading, writing and researching.  We are interested to discover as much as we can about the woman for whom our cottage is named; as well as the history of the cottage itself, the village, and the archaeological bits around this part of Scotland with its ancient history.

So I am mostly doing the people stuff - discovering that "Hughag" was in fact Hughina McKay, born 1868 and died 1951.  One person in the village, our neighbour across the road, remembers her as a tall stern woman in black who kept her chickens in the kitchen.  Another woman from a neighbouring village says she was a wonderful story teller and the children would hang around her and she would teach them songs and tell them stories.  I like that part a lot, but I also love the chicken story.

Barry is doing maps and village history and the archaeology - I am trying to track down the building of the cottage and its inhabitants.  The people with whom we share the experience of living here, albeit in very different circumstances.

So that is lots of fun and means we have no excuse for an idle moment! This was a great find, a petition for the building of a doctor's house signed by Hughina in 1896.

The garden is returning to a semblance of normal, although heavy rain meant we once again had to dig drains!  The water gets away a whole lot better now.

Nonetheless rain does make for lovely photos too - I call these two "wet washing day".

It is the first day of Autumn here today and the colours are fading and a few leaves disappearing.  But there is still enough around for me to want to dye more thread, so the search continues.

I was amazed by the first batch of dyeing.  The sweet peas had been so mauve!  Then as they dried they softened down to a pinkish colour, then I rinsed them in water and they turned silver grey, then they dried agains and ended up soft green.  Who knew?

I spent time last night rolling them onto pegs, and then did the labels today.

From L:R sweet peas, thistle, red clover and stinging nettles.

And then to stitching quietly.  Two coaster top layers stitched, a third underway.

And some foraging in the weeds produced these flowers for the next brew. I think they are Devils-bit Scabious, but it can be pretty tricky working out these Scottish flowers!

They may be the third purple flower to dye green, but we shall see.  At least they have had some lovely sunshine today to burble away with.

Inspiration

Unpacking continues and it all takes time, particularly because as I come across the stash of books and cards and artists' books I bought along the way I get side-tracked and distracted and turn the pegs, read the pages, and then its dinner time!

Here are some of my favourites so far.

At Craft in the Bay in Cardiff, I saw a few of Shirley Jones' beautiful and sophisticated artists' books. She writes poetry and prose, creates exquisite etchings and uses letterpress to print the poetry alongside the images. She also binds the books and I'm not sure if she makes the cases as well or not.

In this book she describes the work of her Press - The Red Hen Press - and also gives detailed information on pieces. I have enjoyed delving into process detail and gaining an understanding of what she does and how.

She says "I named my press after the Little Red Hen, who did it all herself".  I know that feeling!

At the Scottish Poetry Library, I came across lots of little books that offered me many things. This is a beautiful simple book - debossed lettering on the velvetiest paper I have ever felt for the cover. And simple poems within, edited by Luke Allan. I have learned the poems are presented in the manner of the dicotyledon as a poetic form...so many things to learn.

A dicotyledon poem typically comprises two words that differ by one letter. For example

tone
note

(Alec Finlay)

Another book I want to read deeply is this book about typesetting poetry - The Printed Snow by Gerry Cambridge. I have a rather large commission to do around poetry and am working my way through how best to present it using letterpress, so this felt very timely.

Inside this unassuming book I found these other bibs and bobs. All rather lovely and interesting.

Still at the Scottish Poetry Library I came across this. A beautiful letterpress book of poems of bereavement, a bookmark instead of a card, and an envelope to post it away in.  It struck me as a rather precious gift - a number of bereavement poems and a book mark.

The Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy introduces the book, and it s produced by Candlestick Press.

It was part of a series with others for critical moments in our lives, or for things we enjoy such as gardens. If you enjoy poetry I think receiving a gift like this would be grand.

And finally a simple, reproduced accordion book from Iona. It speaks of rock, sea, air and sky and is called White Strand of the Monks, Iona based on water-colour originals by Susan Harvey.

Making cards of art...

 In preparation for the Scottish exhibition I have decided to print some cards that folk may or may not want to buy as a memento of the show.

The last ones arrived today so I have four different images/details of works that will be displayed.

There are two 'landscape' cards. First up a detail of Travelling Home, and those lovely lovely pegs.

And secondly, a close up of Bundled and Burnt.

There are two 'portrait' cards as well. The first is a close up of the wrapper of The Emigrants.

And the second is a detail of some of the scrolls that make up All That was Lost.

And even funnier, here are some close-ups of the close-ups on the cards!

They are all now wrapped and packed and ready to head off to Scotland. I on the other hand, still have a way to go to be packed and ready to head off...

Looking back...

We end this year in the toughest of times; and look to the next one for some relief, and some good moments for so many who are suffering these fires that keep our country burning.

Each year I use the time between Christmas and New year to ponder, reflect, celebrate achievements and plan. Part of that is looking back over the year and the work I have made and pulling together the ones that I love the most; or the ones that made me smile or meant something to me.

It may simply be that by the end of the year it feels like it was a  pretty patchy year (I probably say that every year) and that I am not sure that I achieved much at all; but then I start to wander through the works and realise there were some good things in there, so here we go, in no particular order as ever - just alphabetical.

My year in review:

1. Botanical Dyeing

Teaching and attending workshops brings you into contact with people with marvellous ideas and resources to share, and the story of a book that a student brought to class which then inspired me to have a go at botanical dyeing both here and in Scotland was a revelation - and I do so love the threads and their pegs!

2. Coasters

Planning ahead for a lengthy stay in the Scottish Highlands meant I was able to prepare some fabric and take some thread and sit and stitch some coasters for the cottage. I love that these are now part of our life over there...

3. Grief Cards

I have been so happy that folk 'get' the idea of my grief cards and purchase them and share them with others.  It has been a real joy to make these simply illustrated cards, with tender words and thoughts for when words are hard to find.

4. I would have loved a sunburnt country

This was special.  It grew from feeling helpless about our government's refugee policy of detention; and sorrow that so many find their incarceration unbearable and take their own life. But also, that our health and security systems fail them and they die unnecessarily.  The State Library of Queensland purchased it and understood that artists need to bear witness to atrocities, and as a society, we need to keep and protect what they say as part of the public record.

5. Justice

I was delighted to be asked to repeat this commission in a variable way.  The organisation does such grand work, and these words capture the experience of women who are victims of domestic abuse and how the service helps them, empowers them and encourages them.

6. Light and Love

Once more, in response to tragedy, I made these wee books.  After the Mosque attack in New Zealand that killed so many, Jacinda Ardern showed great leadership, compassions and courage and I used words from Martin Luther King to remind us how light overcomes darkness and that Love overcomes hate. I sent one of the books to Jacinda to say thank you.

7. Ode to Stones

In last year's review I hoped that I might be able to include these in this year's; and I just made it! They were problematic in a few ways, but really helped me focus on solving problems and resolving issues satisfactorily. I am pleased they are here this year!

8. Overwintering 5

These wee books feel precious in the hand. They work with poetic words and images and I love how I managed to pull a bunch of things together and make them work.

9. Pockets are Political

My obsession with pockets and the lack thereof in women's clothing persists; and I like this poster and the words that accompany it.  I have had lots of good responses to it from people who have read the words or heard them spoken - I am pretty sure all women get the need for more and better pockets!!!

10. Sometimes the Soul...

Once again I was honoured to work on theSophia Nugent-Siegal Prize, this time with the words of
MTC Cronin. My main contribution here was the original calligraphic rendering of the title followed by the hand stitching and numbering of the booklets.  I was happy with how the calligraphy worked out and also to be able to provide a hand-stitched option for the final book.

Looking back it was a  lovely year with some nice pieces that gave me and others joy.

Thanks for wandering down ye olde memory lane with me for a bit; but more importantly for stopping by through the year; for leaving thoughts or words in response to what I do and for generally just being a nice part of the interweb to spend time in.

Wishing you all good things, happier days, and a bright and safe new year where I hope we all find time for making, creating and sharing beauty.

Spring flowers and threads

 Life is funny when it comes to how you get an idea for something.

I was watering a pot of dark blackish hearts ease flowers that we have near our front door.  I flicked one fo the flowers and it left behind a purple stain on the tiles. And I thought ohhhhhh....I wonder if they would dye thread?

And just like that I was back at the solar botanical dyeing I was in a frenzy for two years ago!

Into their glass jar they went, and sat in the sun they were.

As I was preparing to throw this bunch of lavender out; I thought wonder if... so into a pot they went as well.

And this is how the lavender came out. A soft green from the stems. and the 'juice' smelt divine.

And this is how the hearts ease came out - so happy with that blue!

And here they both are wrapped around their old pegs, after having been rinsed and dried.

And so then, I wondered about the tibouchina flowers.

But I have to report that thus far, they are very uninspiring