Catching Up

Saturday was the Embroiderers' Guild National Celebration of Stitch Day.  As mentioned in older posts,  my Branch were involved, offering sit, chat and stitch at a local library.  I participated for a couple of hours, and met some very nice people, hopefully some from the day will come along to one of our meetings.

So whilst inviting others to stitch on prepared fabrics, which I had already helped start off with some stitching... I did my own thing.  Made this.

Its very me, and I have made similar in the past.

Its given me ideas for another project.

Yesterday, in the sunshine, I went out on a research trip.

Not far from my home, down very twisty turny country lanes, is a village.  A term to use very loosely, in that its an area two parts, quite a distance apart,  consisting one street each, and each street comes to a full stop.  The road ends you can't go any further.  At one stop there's a pub, which we frequently visit... but this time we went to the other area.  The road probably has no more than 10 houses on it, all on same side.  So we went to the end to take photographs, very quiet, except today for the buzz of harvesting.

See the distant telegraph poles?

They are along the road to the other part of the village.

Its important, to remember to look up!

Lovely to chill and just be..... until..... emerging from beside the hedges, through the fields, a party of about 15 walkers.  They chose to stop and have a lunch break. 

So left them to enjoy and went on to the next planned location.  This time what is the more usual layout of a village.  A place of history, and tales of witchcraft.  Sitting high up on what passes for a hill round here, with views across the countryside.

My home is down and to the left

Brilliant sunshine, if breezy, it was point, click and hope.

So between my point and shoot camera, and himself with two camera, lenses and all sorts, I think I have enough info.  We take very different photos, I look at the texture and detail, and he looks more for composition, which is why the field photos are his, playing with new camera!

You will have to wait and see what I've been photographing and the end result... but its not the images here!

This coming Saturday is an Embroiderers' Guild meeting.  'Share a Skill'.  I believe we will have about four areas with various tasks, in response to what Members asked for.  So someone wanted beading and I said 'I can do that' - so I am!!  I believe in making contributions if you can.... and I'm sure the Members don't want to taste my efforts at cake, heck even birds reject it.

Combining the Mix

I like my blog, I use it as a means to record my arty thoughts, to log an idea, or work, which gives it a date.  I have several blogs I follow via Bloglovin - they vary in topic, textile art, collage, mono printing, papermaking, bookbinding, and even quilting, which seems at odds for a totally non quilt making person.

Of course you follow what interests and these days so much intermingles,  I can find myself led to others by a style, or a wish to know how something works, or someone with similar or compatible interests to my own.

So whilst enjoying reading other artistic thoughts and processes I came across a sentence this week which set me off thinking, oh dear, can't deal with this.

I call myself a Mixed Media Artist.  I stitch, so how to describe?  Its a topic which often goes round and round amongst fellow creative stitchers.

Artist - would be ideal, but then its more of a Painter association I feel.

Embroiderer - well yes, but in my head I think of the precision of goldwork, exquisite fine detail stitching.  Not the clumpy random exploits I offer up.

Textile Artist - for while I was happy with this one... and it is the way most of my genre choose to describe themselves.

However, for me it didn't seem quite enough, just not quite matching.  Paper is my fabric of choice, and I prefer paint to dyes, I like hand and machine stitch.  I might use beads or bbq sticks.  Us creative stitchers still find prejudice and lack of understanding as to what our techniques and skills can achieve.

So Mixed Media Artist seemed to be a better fit for me, and open more doors.

So here I am settled with my label, not giving it any more thought, until this week.   There it was... should not refer to it as Mixed Media.... should be known as Combined Media.  Arghhh like that trips off the tongue any better.

I like Mixed Media - kinda fits me... chuck it in together, mix it up and see what comes out, and call it art darhlink!!

Well I have overheard it said – you know which one Beverley is… she’s the one who makes the weird stuff!

Embossing powders, Frantage - hand stitching beads

Papers, stamping and machine stitch

Hand made paper, stitched seams

Machine stitch, paint effects, paper beads, ephemera

Growed Up Fluffy Nonsense!

Its dull and its raining and the light is bad and I can't see to do any work.   Oh no, its now extraordinarily hot, I stick to everything, the brain has gone foggy, everthing is at slow speed. See British weather provides excuses for not doing whatever the day!!!
I did my Committee thing this week, and at the moment I feel a bit like "they are going to find out I'm not good at this".  I was being a growed up person - things came out of my mouth and I swear its not me saying it, I wonder who this person is, how did that happen?  Of course you come home with more things to actually do.

As always I've got things to make, deadlines to meet, but I've kinda gone off the moment, the ideas I had still relevant, but actually I don't want to be meeting the deadline, making for the task.  I want to be making light fluffy nonsense.  Actually I was gong to attend a workshop this past weekend, which would have provided the light relief, the "I'm just doing this for fun, its silly and  not vital to learn, not for a deadline or a dedicated project" - but unfortunately it was cancelled.  So I still feel the need for that, mhmm fancy a bit of bling, let's get out the beads.

Took this along to the Embroiderers' Guild this morning, ideal because its portable for one, and because there's no pattern or even a preconceived idea, I can make and talk at the same time!!!  Its a bit like the free designing, go anywhere with stitch work, using beads.

What is it?   Well its art darhlink - obviously, tsk!!