Then I heard about a planned exhibition called "Threads of Resistance" and knew just how to use my dragons. They (and various other cultural icons) are guarding the Constitution. I'll add photos when Rick Wells has completed his magic. Working on this has been a great help in dealing with anger and anxiety in recent weeks. Fiber therapy works!
I've also decided that I'm defining my "voice." Elements I can identify include storytelling, color and handwork. I'm realizing that I don't need to learn a lot of threadpainting techniques or digital drawing or printmaking or precision piecing or, really, precision anything. I can stop feeling inferior to artists who excel at those techniques, even while appreciating their work. I can refine my use of repurposed materials, list the stories I want to tell, enjoy slow work on my art. People look at my quilts and say, "I never saw anything like that." Good. I'm on the right track.
Now that Guardians is completed, I've stumbled into a new piece. I bought a meter of printed cotton in Denmark last summer, planning vaguely to do some stitching on it.
Started stitching on the printed circles with perle cotton, just noodling about what to do next. Layer and cut holes in it? Paint part of it? I have plenty of time to come to a decision--there's quite a lot of stitching left to do.
Then, at a garage salelast Wednesday, I paid a quarter for a plastic bag full of small crocheted lace samples from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. I know the date because there was a tiny scrap of an instruction book in the bag, dated 1889. I washed the bits and let them dry.
I remembered I have a beautiful array of hand-dyed samples from friend Pamela--cottons and linen with indigo, bois d'arc, heartwood, and lots of other natural dyes. Problem solved, I think.
These babies will set off the lace bits nicely. I I gave them a final wash and dry to avoid possible bleeding into the white cotton.
No hurry.
Excuse me while I go play some more.