It seems I'm unable to let go of trees in black and white (and also in this case, grey). Removing colour seems to accentuate their form and their growth patterns in a (to me) very satisfying way.
This is another piece in a series developed from photographs taken last autumn in BC Canada. There was certainly no shortage of opportunities for photography. There were trees in all directions, everywhere we looked, large and small and in their millions!
Since I'll be exhibiting this piece in the group exhibition shown at the bottom of this email, I've shown only a hint ... and a view of the back before stretching, a ghost of what is on the front.
I always find backs, with their story of the stitching process, interesting. As will be seen from this photo, I certainly don't subscribe to the philosophy that the back should be as neat as the front as I stitch intuitively, responding to the image and the cloth.
I sometimes toy with the idea of mounting work in acrylic boxes so both sides can be seen but get defeated by the logistics of the thing.
PS Since I no longer seem able to update my sidebar in Layout on Blogger to include the poster of this exhibition, I will be including it as a footnote in my posts till the exhibition is over. I can only apologise for this and the poster's large size. Images in a post don't seem to go any smaller!
This is another piece in a series developed from photographs taken last autumn in BC Canada. There was certainly no shortage of opportunities for photography. There were trees in all directions, everywhere we looked, large and small and in their millions!
Since I'll be exhibiting this piece in the group exhibition shown at the bottom of this email, I've shown only a hint ... and a view of the back before stretching, a ghost of what is on the front.
I always find backs, with their story of the stitching process, interesting. As will be seen from this photo, I certainly don't subscribe to the philosophy that the back should be as neat as the front as I stitch intuitively, responding to the image and the cloth.
I sometimes toy with the idea of mounting work in acrylic boxes so both sides can be seen but get defeated by the logistics of the thing.
PS Since I no longer seem able to update my sidebar in Layout on Blogger to include the poster of this exhibition, I will be including it as a footnote in my posts till the exhibition is over. I can only apologise for this and the poster's large size. Images in a post don't seem to go any smaller!
It's interesting how some subjects just keep coming back to us, sometimes even after we try to get away from them. (Not that I'm saying it's what you are trying to do.) I think it's worth going with the flow. In the past I have found that working say on yet another juggler helps me to relax meantime into working out other ideas.
ReplyDeleteAs for the back of work - I agree with you that free embroidery should be just that.
You are right in what you hint at. I do sometimes feel that I should get away from trees and buildings, and especially from black and white, and then I wonder why I feel that way. After all, I stitch and work in large part for my own enjoyment and satisfaction so why do I feel that what I produce should be varied?
DeleteI think it is perhaps because I feel a great need to extend my range and develop what I do and sometimes I feel that working in the same series stunts this growth. I suspect that this is almost certainly not the case. Working in a series is certainly very rewarding and brings development. One thing feeds into another in a gradual way and gives the opportunity to try out new things on familiar ground. Also, as you suggest, working on the familiar can sometimes give space for the new.
j'aime ton travail... dommage de ne pouvoir voir l'expo! bises
ReplyDeleteJe prendrais un grand plaisir de vous retrouver en personne un jour et de voir votre travail ... mais La Suisse est si loin d'Angleterre!
DeleteLove your trees, I think if you find a subject that you enjoy working with you should stick to it, after all there are as many variations of trees and buildings that you could deal with in a lifetime.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Debbie, for your encouraging comment. I'm sure that you're right about sticking with what you enjoy. Indeed for me when I think about it, enjoyment and satisfaction are the main motivators. Without things artistic, my life would be much more barren!
DeleteAlso, when I started out looking at high rise buildings and their shapes and reflections, I didn't foresee how hooked on them I would become. For now it's trees and buildings and black and white. Next year or the year after, it may be something quite different.
One way of "exposing" the back of a work is in a book format, so each work is a page, and the spread is a back of work and a front of work. Just yesterday I saw, in the Prism exhibition (on till 10 June), a (thick) book of lost and endangered species where three or four names were stitched on each page - some pages were organza, so you got even more than a back and a front, you got them both at the same time! The work was by Anita Bruce.
ReplyDeleteI know Anita's work. It's always interesting. She approaches things in the most novel of ways. In fact, I met her, indeed she stayed here with my husband and I when Great Western Embroiderers (with whom I stitch) were hosting one of West Country Embroiderers' annual get togethers. She was our chosen speaker and most interesting to talk to. I follow her with interest so I'm fascinated to know what she's up to now.
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