Thursday 25 February 2010

..Stitches and Sketches..

I've been "fiddling" with some ideas for my Moroccan pieces...

...not sure about the stitching on this though...






I think I prefer to use henna/dye to do these motifs...really cutting back on stitch.

Here are a few pages out of my Moroccan sketchbook - I jotted down patterns wherever I saw them...on tagines, bowls, and even sneaking photos of henna patterned hands where I could!





A lot of these motifs appear on Mid/Anti Atlas textiles - Haik shawls in particular. I love the triangular ones....they remind me of Old European Mother Goddess iconography... (more on this theme later on)

(Thanks to Rebecca for a comment that gave a link to the Henna Page...a really great site for all sorts of henna designs and lots of other information too!)

These are some Berber symbols painted onto goatskin - found in a little shop in Essaouira...



...will HAVE to do something with them ....:-)

I also feel that I want to use more natural-looking beads and embellishments, but can't seem to find a decent sized pack with a reasonable price-tag. (Everything's in tiny sachets dispensed out of a large bag....and then a big price put on the small item! Rogues!)

So, I'll just have to make my own....