And it is still rolling!!! More people are joining and I am really excited to see when the Stitch Samplers come back to me and I will see what they all have come up with! 
For those who still thinking of joining, just to say, the ‘Stitch kit’ contains a small piece of fabric (hemp, a bit like natural linen, which comes from Poland and a small bobbin of Appleton Crewel Wool, which is made in England since 1835 and a embroidery needle). 
The fabric is dyed by my friend Lorraine, who makes beautiful clothes out of it (http://www.sidekickclothing.co.uk/contact.htm) 
When you receive your kit, I wish you stitch whatever you like, how much or how little. Every stitch count, every stitch is a shared moment. 
Take it off the card, but please stitch it back on and write on the back you name, how long it took you and , in a nutshell how it was!!
I will keep you posted what will happen next!!!
Happy Stitching xxx

Right now I am sending out the ‘Stitch Kits” (or hand deliver around Penzance),

for those who are going to take part in the event “Time and Stitch”.

A Live event will follow in May, more details nearer to the time!

These images document  the journey I have been on with my exploration of Stitch, Time, Place and Music since September 2012.

I have been in different places, at Home, in the Church, at my partners flat and outside on the beach. It is a slow journey, learning steps on the way, beginning to see and understand what I am looking for. Also learning how to use media as video and photography as tools of documentation of the activity Stitch. Every taking of a new piece of footage and in the process dealing with it in a way to make it accessible through media and social media is part of an interesting, sometimes trying and challenging learning curve.

And time and time again questioning and reminding myself :” What is the work??” and feeling that the boundaries becoming blurred, as new aspect are emerging.  The  beginning collaboration with music / musician is a new thought, not only seeing the music as an underpinning audio wallpaper: in my mind the music becomes a dialog partner .

Moving on……….

Tuesday, 22. January 2013

While I was working around the visual idea of embroidering in the church against the window with the music of Avro Präet, it felt safe, like a know territory in which to work.

In my conversation with Gillian Wylde last week it became clear, that the process of the embroidery and the internal process is the work: it is an exploration of seeking moments of calm and reflection in an almost meditative activity, being in a space, inside or outside reflecting the connection to the world, being in the world while being within myself, with myself, enduring myself.

I feel her suggestion of just going out there, and being in a space, with my embroidery, just being and noticing…feels right and scary, uncertain… I am glad to be left to explore this journey.

The Idea, the image to take this exploration on a Journey feels right; my wish was always to go with my Gyspy Spirit, work I can put in bag and go and work, where ever I am, I always longed for this kind of freedom. I would like to have somewhere a small base in an Artist Community; I also had the wish to travel and let the travel be part of my work. The Embroidered Cloth becomes the real time documentation, the photos and films the documentation, where I can share the experience with others.

I might feel into the idea of working in a busy crowded space, as a contrast as a visual expression of the Monkey Mind (more familiar to me then I wish for!).

On Music

Still I feel strongly that music and sound is an integral part of the expression of the internal process; it is also the part where I wish to reach out to other people and seek collaboration. In my search I am looking now into more experimental and/or improvised music; Jamie Mills is a wonderful source for inspiration and hopefully collaboration.

There is still this thing about that a lot of environmental art/ landscape art is very male; being out there, claiming territory.

 For me it is looking also inside, the house, the nest, the home, and the space we share, like churches, cafes, and trains.

 And at the same time it was very exhilarating when I was sitting on the rocks near Mousehole, in the wind and cold, listening to the crashing waves and the screeching seagulls.

Thought on Sustainability as an integral part of my practice

This year it will be 11 years since I started my journey towards a Degree in Fine Art; I started off with an A level in Textiles, followed by an A level in Fine Art and an Foundation Degree in Design and Art.

In my attic there are several boxes with sketchbook, notebooks, folders with drawings, sketches, A1 boards with course work; under my bed the handmade A 1folder with the prints of my final work from the Foundation Degree.

I stopped working with screen print because I just could not comprehend the discrepancy between my private attempts in reducing plastic waste (I try to avoid plastic or/recycle as much as I can at home) and washing acrylic paint down the drain.

I just don’t want to accumulate any more any trail pieces, explorations in wasting material.

Using wool, produced by an British Company (Appleton) and fabric made of hemp (unbleached hemp fabric from Turkey thorough The House of Hemp), which is in its farming and production more sustainable then cotton I finally have with this very conscious decision at a material, where I can feel at ease with.

The chosen material also fulfills a sense of calm aesthetic, which I had found in books about Japanese craft, Zen design and Shaker Design.

I wish to amalgate the exploration and documentation of the process and activity of very simple hand stitching with using one continuous piece of work, which actually consists of 3 different sized pieces of cloth, onto I embroider with a simple cross stitch using design borrowed from traditional quilting pattern.

In a further step I would like to incorporate the working of several women together on one piece of cloth. This is to incorporate the communal aspect in my work.

The intend and conscious choice of using a quilting pattern is to link my work with the long standing history of woman and needlework, particular the tradition of the American Quilting Bees (groups of women who come together to work on one quilt).

Recently I watched the film “The Making of an American Quilt”; (incorporate some info about the film) : besides the narrative of the film it gave a glimpse it the emotional aspects of working on a quilt for the women in this group.

Textile related activities have two aspects for me

1. The solitarily, meditative  working alone, finding that quiet space inside while being immersed in the repetitive working of the needles, whether it is knitting needles or embroidery needles.
2. The joys of being in a group, mostly women sharing the same activity, the company, sharing the joys and prides, or the disasters and often not only about the pieces at hand , but life in general. 

My practice shows me very directly what I am exploring. As I am documenting my activities through video, photography  and explore the link with music I spend time with cameras, video cameras and my laptop.

And very directly I experience how my sense of time alters when involved with technology.: time seems to lapse and leaves me empty and drained. My sense of communication appears to be almost damaged. Also I do achieve to create my wanted documentation, it is an   

often frustrating process, when I forget steps in a process and can’t remember how I did something.

The opposite is the experience when I stitch or knit without documenting it as a parallel process. Then yes , time appears long and flowing with spaces to breathe and I can settle in a feeling of calm.

After some time there is then a gentle comforting feeling, of feeling grounded and content.

My practice shows me my longing. I yearn for the feeling of time I had as child, when an hour felt ever so long.

It is always good to see the film clips and the stills on a big screen, I love my images, but I feel rather wobbly ,because it is so far out from what the “usual” edgy student work  is like.

In this way, being true to myself and my search to find ways to express with these images my longing for stillness, slow time, beauty, poetry, feels scary, exposed and risky. 

On the other hand I get reaction, that the work does look beautiful and reminds of Vermeer paintings.