Because Day One is always setting up, thinking, doing what you did last year (as a warm up) and finding out what you’ve forgotten 🙂
Bear in mind that these are all photographed wet, and will dry lighter. Still, i’m damned pleased.
All in the dryer now, with more, and will cure before they go in the shop.
And this is my Lunch Buddy:
No talking, no music, just flow.
Another two hours this morning. Time to stop for the while, when the thread snarls, and your rotator cuff hurts….. I wrote a funny many years back that mentioned “embroidery elbow”–i’ve got “embroidery shoulder” now.
Slopped around some paint and sketching in the Am to just get out of a major futz, and then picked up the second figure for Tabula Memoria. YES. “More heart” indeed: the first attempt was arbitrarily stitched, but i think the actual heart attempt on this, the second attempt, is MUCH better.
The first/older aborted start, below:
The new Valdani threads came in handy, but rather than dividing the 3 strands, i left it as a 3ply. Seems to be finer than DMC (though not as smooth), but worked like a dream.
And using the stretcher was actually much easier than i thought it would be. I left re-starting this one a (too long) while, as i hate using hoops of any sort at the best of times, so KERPOW to you Misconception. I wrassled ya down. This haremcloth behaved itself beautifully.
The second figure for this piece has been a bit problematic. The original sketch’s colouring (above centre right) did not translate well the first time to the haremcloth—too green, too dark. The sampling (above centre left) was actually done before the large attempt at the stitching, but i lost sight of what it was and didn’t go to the now aborted attempt with it.
I’ve gone back to the idea of the stitched sample (which will become a small piece on its own, as i quite like it), for the colouring and the “flavour”. Less is more.
I however DID like the stitching i did on the first, so will be doing that again.
The tapestry frame worked a dream for stretching the expletive deleted haremcloth, keeping it taut and 99% on grain. I’m sure any nun or lace maker would agree that the 1% should be more important, but considering the piece when done will be loosely attached to the main background, subtle stitch manipulation will true it up.
I stitched it to both sides, then flipped it over and stitched one end because there was enough overlap, but the other end had to be stapled because there wasn’t enough at the end to fold over. Poohpoohpeedoo, it worked.
Now we’ll see if i can work it this way, as i am unused to hooping of any sort, except on the very very rare occasion. I suspect i’ll be propping it on the edge of a table, and working stab fashion, instead of my usual fold, borgle, crumple method.
I’ve done more than i thought, and less than i thought. Still 3 months to deadline.
Top centre detail, moon:
Left and right panels:
Tall figure mock-up, and seated figure:
Seated figure:
Right panel detail:
Right panel (tipped, as it actually is vertical):
Left panel:
Seam treatment:
The whole is 44×46″:
Potassium permanganate, brazilwood, iron on cotton.
Yup, the gut feeling was correct. The hexes blend in, hold the fabric and still add a bit of texture.
Onward!
So handy to live in a digital age 🙂 Hesitant to put needle and thread to the centre, i did this first, and am confident that the top right is the way to go. Some of the sketchies were dismissed immediately, some would work elsewhere on other work, but this gives me a clear idea of how to handle that centre strip.
It needs to be “filled” but VERY discretely, and more “openly” so it doesn’t fight with the rest of the moon, and the rest of the work. The moon needs to be emphasized, but not at the expense of the other elements: it can’t assume more importance than the figures or side work.
My order of threads had arrived last week, so i’ve chosen the Caron Wildflowers #171 Caramel to work that area. It “blends” enough with the colours of the fabric and natural dye processes, but is still alive enough to add a little interest, without being overly visible. There’s plenty, with 2 skeins, to do this and to add the discrete hexagons to other areas of the whole. I may also use it for the standing figure–which has to go on the frame sometime this week and be done!
The big one on Tabula Memoria still has me stumped as to the middle visible sectioning.
Hexagons discrete? Holes? A tree? More synapses?
Still a mystery.
I figure i am actually at midpoint with “Tabula Memoria”, which makes me feel better. Mid point still means half again still to do, which makes me feel bad. I’m at Dithering Stage, second guessing, re-ordering threads to replace ones i’ve run out of, and measuring by the inch what goes where and why.
That darned second figure is *a* bugaboo right now. The aborted one is filed, and i’m re-figuring (snarf) how to do it so that it means what it’s supposed to mean. The centre of the top moon is *the* bugaboo though, has me bamboozled–not sure how i want to treat it. What does it mean when a moon is divided?
It’s also time to fill some negative space with some discrete, minimalist stitch for anchoring and to keep it “void” but not empty. My brain is trying to wrap around what it’s saying to me……i *know* what i mean, just can’t express it in words. Invisible memories. Impalpable boundaries. Undisclosed but there. Can something Not Be and Be?
Meow. Not Meow.
albedo too 
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