Friday, September 07, 2007

Obessions and new beginings

Hi all, hmm has it really been that long.... oh dear I am still here and have been reading everyday or most anyway. Life just got in the way a little.

It started out with the flu which lead to a chest infection then I had just got rid of that and then went here... [ OK that links to last years but you will get the idea] So from the Monday until the Sunday morning was nearly 24 / 7 immersed in the art world. Fabulous but very hard work.

Then of course back to work to a back log of problems not to mention the house work and garden at home. No rest for the wicked as they say.


Being sick wasn't so bad... other than the cough that wouldn't leave. I had worked hard to get my C & G's away before it hit. Mostly just sat in the chair and read, watched DVDs and knitted. Bit of a hard life really:)

Anyway got to try one or two things lying about for a while. First up a crocheted bracelet. OK I know this is meant to be a knitting blog but I will get there in a minute..... Squares with covered rings and added beads. From a book whose title escapes me at the moment. [ Feel free to remind me ...] It has been favouritely received so can't be too bad. The catch is a bit fiddly so must change it one day.














Next up , knitting content now I had been wanting to try some log cabin knitting. So got out the pearl cottons and had a go. You can blame these two for this one.




I was reasonabley pleased but not with the colour choices so back to the stash and came up with this....



Now I am totally hooked.. an idea of scale....



This piece has now been finished. The front at least. I knitted dark blue around each square before joining then knitting a mitred border of dark blue with a narrow stripe. I am going to wash,. block and then pad and quilt. What am I going to do with it you say... well ...

All my life I have been surrounded with the art world. I started my working life for my Dad at age of 11 as a runner between his art galleries. By the time I left school I was working full-time for him in one of his galleries in a place called Upper Hutt. I have for the past 10 + years been taking art courses of one sort or another. Including a whole year of art which taught me I can draw after a fashion. Unfortunately with the trauma of the past few years it has taken me time to get back to it.

Now I feel as If I am suffocating in my job. I would so like to leave and study art full time but money is an issue. So I do what I can when I can. I have done drawing , painting, 2 months of life drawing, stone lithography, etching, book making etc etc. This over and above my passion for knitting.

Now this brings me to the point. I registered for Textile fibre forum... I had heard how great it was but it was even better than that. We had the most wonderful and inspiring tutor in our class. Sandy Webster, [ Hi Sandy!! ] an American artist. Go on check her out I will wait... If you ever get a chance to take a class with her, don't jump ...run for it. It is worth every cent.

Perhaps it just was the right thing at the right time for me. But it seems to crystallise everything I had learnt and was learning. I have so much wanted to take my knitting over into the "art" as opposed to to the "craft". The technique and craft I have but I wanted more. Sandy has shown me a direction I can now go in. For this I heartily thank her.

This course was to do with the making of book, basket and box - a placement of memory. I decided to make a special place for the treasures from my Grandma. I worked hard and did a lot of research of photos etc. I visited her grave and her old garden for soil and worked solidly for a week.., even wrote a poem. So here is the "Grandma box".





It includes five handmade books as well as spun paper and a small basket. I made the box with a drawer and lift up top to resemble an old jewelry box. The box at the bottom is her old embroidery box which we placed in the bottom. My Auntie was over whelmed when she saw it and had begged me to take it back to let her "savour it" some more.

The funny thing is this box is so not me.. rather twee [ dare I saw it] but it really tells the story of my Grandmother. In fact so much so I find it hard to believe. It nows lives in pride of place on top of the sideboard I inherited from her. I touch it lightly as I pass and remember her. It was a wonderful way of bringing back treasured memories and storing them as well.

So I am now working on the next piece. I find it consumes my mind and find it hard to concentrate at work. I am including knitting in the next piece and am working on the contents and "words" to include. So this will remain a knitting blog but excuse me if I am obessed and side track at times.

Anyway once again it is late. So away to bed to read and study the colour red.

Cheers >^..^<