Soul Fire

A dragon has alighted on Palace of the Soul, roaring out creative fire and setting the cloth ablaze. It is the Year of the Dragon - a fierce creature that commands respect and seeks the pearl of great price. I once named my black, serpent-slim cat 'Draco' after the dragon constellation.

I had chosen to add this fabric I dyed because I saw a dragon in it, which I used as a rough stitching guide.

Dragons are unpredictable and wont to fly off into the blue, just like creativity follows its own mysterious and surprising path.

And soon I will be into the blues, too, with the online Indigo Dyeing course taught by Glennis Dolce. I have been gathering a variety of unusual supplies for that and am looking forward to where it takes me when it starts next week.

Extending Reach

Just a wave today from this hand I've added to the bottom of Palace of the Soul. There will be another one at the top of the cloth. I've woven largely lower contrast fabrics into the dark base because the reaching hand speaks to form rising out of formlessness, images out of the unconscious and the mystery of making. I have also added shelves to the new studio area - and moved more fabrics into it, as well as my threads - and the design walls are up and covered with flannel. I'm so pleased to have Palace of the Soul out on my big table to work on, now.

Gifts From the Snow

Here are a few of the threads, doilies and trims that the melted snow washed up on my shore: I prepared three different snow dye baths with the same items in each. The results are unpredictable - the same fabric in one bath absorbed alot of colour, while in another bath it came out virtually undyed and some fabrics are just one overall colour while others in the same bath are many. I have far too many samples to post but a few of my favourites will give you an idea of the range from one of the baths. This silk velvet is my favourite:

I prepared this fabric itajime shibori style, and interestingly, this one was meant to be snow moons but became moon butterflies:

And here are some fantasy mountains on linen - you may have to enlarge the photo to see what I mean:

I have other fabrics that are largely pink and some that are turquoise, avocado and reddish brown. The snow outside is all gone - but I do have a small bucket left in my freezer :) I also have partially sewn the ancient vesica piscis symbol onto Palace of the Soul, now.

To me, the snow dyed fabric it is on has the feel of an unfolding universe - a place of continuous birthing and emerging of the Divine Feminine. It is threshold, passage and chalice and maiden, mother and crone.

Pot Luck

I've added a few more bits to Palace of the Soul, keeping it growing little by little.

And I overdyed some wet felted wool I had previously dyed with maple leaves, this time using resists and a eucalyptus bath.

And I did a few pieces of silk, too.

Last night after being occupied with the felted book, I suddenly was shocked to realize there is that rare thing here, now - snow - and I had not even thought to do some snow dyeing! So I was determined to make that happen today and good thing, as the temperature has risen, rain is falling and the snow is rapidly disappearing.

Stay tuned for results - I've got three or four different colours of dye in each bucket and all kinds of fabrics, trims and threads prepared in a variety of ways.

Undaunted

A cold day out today and the robins were eating berries off the holly tree. These sketches I did are based on wolverine cave art.

When I heard Douglas Chadwick was giving a presentation on wolverines last year, I was eager to go, as I have been curious to learn more about them. I came away amazed at the amount and type of terrain they move through with such great speed, their courage and ability to overcome adversity and their enduring family ties. Here is a youtube that will give you the gist: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7Bkh-P54ws I have added one to Palace of the Soul,

along with a word my Finnish Grandmother told me about that encompasses the extraordinary endurance and tenacity I think characterizes wolverines and that aspect of soul drive to express itself no matter what.

Securing Expansion

I decided I needed to start fastening all my bits down, today. And I filled some gaps like the lower right corner in this photo.

I attached these and cut off the bottom which had been hidden behind other fabrics.

And I basted half of this and am recovering alot of pins.

But the big news for me today is finding a table I can use for laying things out, cutting and sewing, with a storage shelf below! I don't have room for it yet, but I expect to set it up sometime in December.

Picking Up

While the wind outside picked up, rearranging leaves and branches, I was picking up fabrics and supplies in the studio after my creative whirlwind, so I can have room to work again! In normally hidden spaces, I found many partially completed projects and felt into what has energy for me now and found that many of them do and that I have lots of ideas for where to take them, next.

This fish still had pins in its fins - ouch! So I secured it with thread onto a background.

And I selected a backing for this unicorn and started to baste it down.

I am thinking about gift making, too.

Along the Lines of Imagination

There was a surprise on my car yesterday morning - frost feathers! And frost waves:

And frost fronds:

And more pathways and pattern in the spaces between have appeared on this, too.

Woman in the Moon

It was such a pleasure to be stitching, yesterday, and I'm eager to add more to this. I added tracks to the sand, as well, when I went to watch the waves surge in the wind.

I saw moons

but the dye in my pot at home must have seeped in, in spite of the resist,

So I ended up with a cloth awash in colour.

I know the moon is there, even if I can't see it.

Tracking Time

Some leaves are still clinging to their branches, while others are gathering in corners. It felt good to pick up a needle again to add some stitch to the leaf prints on this:

Did you know that the needle is the most ancient tool still in use today in its original form? Although nowadays, of course, it's made from metal. About a month ago I went to see the film 'Cave of Forgotten Dreams', which was a 3D experience of going into France's Chauvet cave to see the world's oldest known existing art. It is mind boggling to think that humans drew on the walls 32 000 years ago. This is based on one of the cave bears :

The experience of stitching this was a little eery - like going deep into the cave of time to follow the hands of unknown ancestors as they drew the images.

I am very excited about this direction and plan to take it further.

Pops of Colour

Fall is neutrals... With pops of colour.

I have a little more stitching left to do, here, but I have learned more about felting and wet felting in making this. It takes awhile to get the feel of new materials and I have plenty of ideas I want to explore.

And when I found some unidentified red leaves on the ground, I overdyed this wool with them and a few maple leaves:

Fitting It All In

I take alot of photos and choosing just a few of them to post here can be challenging. So if I collage them, I can show a few more and this also makes me think about which two go together and why - what am I trying to say? These two are similar and so different:

And it was the contrast that caught my eye here, too - arrivals from the sea with the hard, smoother, neutral coloured shell in amongst that glorious riot of seeweedy colour and texture.

I have been enjoying combining textures with felting and stitch and will post the larger photo of this in a next post. I have also sewn myself a jacket - meant to be a prototype for more interesting things to come, but I am pleased it fits and I will have something new to wear once I finish the edges.

Circling

Fall is a waning of growth, a cycle of decline with a changing beauty of it's own

and seeds of promise for other seasons to come.

I also dyed some linens and a backing for this feather piece, which shows a little brighter than it actually is, since I took the photo when it was still wet.