.......coming together.....

...been working on some of the pieces I dyed in the week.....


....I really feel that this theme is beginning to come together for me....








...and I'm not actually finding it too difficult to limit the amount of stitching.


It's probably got a lot to do with the bleached-out patches on the fabric....

...they tend to form a design in their own right, and therefore, don't need too much added by me....


I've enjoyed these so much that I've now done another batch....

...this will keep me occupied over the rest of this week I'd think.


The henna theme is also continuing. Lots of sketchbook pages done...

..fairly simple stuff....

...but connections are being made....

...with esoteric themes....and links to Sufism...

I've had an interest here for a long time....

...especially with the music and art that is associated with it...


Things are indeed coming together...

...more dye play...

...and a bit of stitching too.

I got out the dyes again, and painted some threads to use in the Moroccan/henna pieces.

About 8 different threads were wound into a skein - cottons, silks...

..then dye painted on in sections.

Browns; yellows; greens...

..resulting in this...





These were then used on a couple of backgrounds that had been done a few days ago...







..and included some of the embellishments showed in the last post...

While the dye stuffs were out, I did a few more pieces of fabric....

...and bleached them in places afterwards....





I think these will require only a small amount of stitching/embellishment...


This theme is beginning to take hold. I've ordered two lots of henna powder - red and black - to use on future pieces. I feel that I want to use the materials that WOULD have been used, wherever possible.

I've also been reading a lot about Moroccan henna cloths...it's a fascinating subject...about a lost art. The last "real" ones were made back in the 1950s in a small area of the Anti Atlas. Most of the meaning behind the symbolism is forgotten, but, luckily, research was carried out and some information is still available to us.

Apparently, many of the symbols used were "talismanic" or "amuletic"...and consisted of versions of the ancient Berber (Amazigh) script, Tifinagh.

This is particularly interesting to me, and I'll be looking into this a lot more....

I was really pleased to discover that a number of henna veils are held in the collection of the "Musee de Quai Branly" Paris. I'll be at Chartres again later in the year, so can visit and have a close-up look at them! It's less than an hour on the train from there.

Meanwhile, I'm back to my book for a while before bedtime....

...experiments...

I mentioned previously that I wanted some different embellishments to use in my current work...

...and that I couldn't find any amounts of things at reasonable prices.

So..

..I've been playing around, experimenting, with materials I had to hand.


Here are some of the results...




"leather paper" diamonds...painted with copper and antique gold paints


"leather paper" squares...edges tinted with brown dye


squares ....cut from a piece of stiffened fabric


"leather paper" circles.....painted with metallic paints/edges stained with Sennelier inks


wooden beads...cut from willow sticks


beads....odd little things that were strung - supposedly to repel insects - found in the souk at Marrakech.....painted with antique gold paint


"leather paper" is something I came up with a few years ago.....experimenting in the dye-pot, I always throw in whatever happens to be around just to see what happens. We were living in France at the time, and, having a rather old/decrepit farmhouse, visits to DIY establishments were quite frequent. I found a roll of "stuff" in the "End of Line" bin.....took it home...and dunked it. WOW!....amazing sheet of "leather-looking" material....that won't tear; can be hand or machine stitched; can de overdyed; is almost waterproof; won't fall apart in the washing-machine; .....and doesn't require the death of an animal! AMAZING! (so I went back up there a bit quick and bought up the rest of the rolls before it disappeared!)

Here are piccies of some sheets...





Other experiments that have taken place over the last few days....

....no henna...

...but Setasilk dyes....





..ready for stitch and embellishment....

..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....

... learning new things...

While I'm working on some Moroccan-inspired textiles...and thinking about painting some pattern rather than stitching it all...(off to Cardiff for some tubes of henna/mendhi...)

..I'm also expanding my knowledge (never a bad thing I believe!)

Always interested in other cultures, especially those with a rich textile heritage..

..I've come across these....

Please have a look - it's well worth it!





How can anyone not be bowled over by the hand craft here?!

As I've said previously, most of what I've done in recent times has been "stan" inspired....

The textiles that come out of these countries still have the ability to stop me in my tracks and gape like some kind of smitten fool...

...but I'm discovering new countries too. I'd never even HEARD of Chuvashia until I came across it in Sheila Paine's books that document her search for a particular kind of Amulet.

(The Afghan Amulet; The Golden Horde; The Linen Goddess)

I'm the sort to "have a nose around"...and found the videos above. WOW!! or what?!

There's also a site - www.chuvashculture.org that has a number of galleries showing embroidery and many other things too, plus lots of info. Here are some piccies from there...









What is it about this kind of embroidery that fascinates me?

Maybe it is because some embroidery patterns/designs/motifs are deemed to have "magical" or "talismanic" properties.

Certainly there seems to be a "commom thread" in some of the motifs, and these are found repeated on embroidered, felted and woven textiles all over Central Asia and parts of Europe.

This fact grabs my imagination.

I'm going to follow the threads and see where they lead me....

..switching continents...

Thus far I've gathered my inspiration mostly from the Indian Sub-Continent - northern India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan......in fact....a lot of the "stans"!

This is continuing...but in the background for now...

...and this piece....




..will be the last of it's kind (for a while).


My little trip to Morocco was an absolute joy! So much to take in...so little time...

...but I'm going back there now - via the studio anyway :-)


The necessary winter task of shifting tonnes of firewood took it's toll over the last couple of weekends. And a long-standing affliction - carpal-tunnel-syndrome - reared it's ugly head and dictated that no-way could I do any stitching for about 4 days! Flaming nuisance!...

..but...

...it spurred me on to get up to my elbows in the dye pot....with the following results....












...inspired by some of the colours I encountered in Morocco.


And where am I going with it....?

...well, here's a clue.....





I'm also thinking of switching other things...

...by trying to work "less fussy".

Most of what I've done up to now has been very labour intensive, with LOADS of surface decoration....stitches upon stitches, and hundreds of beads....

I can't continue with this....mainly because my eyesight isn't what it used to be, and I'm finding that I can't focus for too long without discomfort.

The carpal-tunnel is also becoming a more persistent problem - maybe it's time to get it sorted - finally. So much of what I do relies on my hands - not just stitching, but drawing, painting and playing music - all of which give me such immense joy that I cannot bear to think what life would be like if I couldn't do them.

A blog-friend sent me some links the other day...

...which made me think that it might just be possible for me to change to a more "understated" way of working...

..that might also allow me to produce much larger pieces....

...without the pain.

I have to give it a go, but I'm not expecting it to be easy....

...old habits die hard.