reflections

it's been a thinky kind of week

a lot of time reflecting on my work, what I have been doing, and the direction I want to be going

several years ago I wrote a list of the qualities I was drawn to in creative work: colour, style, texture, design

they all still hold true for me today but I think what I am examining more now is quality

not quality in terms of construction or materials - quality in terms of the nature of it, and specifically in terms of simplicity

I have always liked my work to be on the simpler side of things, not too much embellishment, a more muted, quieter palette, subtle in texture

last year I learned about the principles of the zen aesthetic and whilst most of them resonated,  "kanso" stood out most of all

"simplicity, beauty and visual elegance are achieved by elimination and omission"

the description implies a taking away, removal and though I looked at it as a form of distillation, a process I love, it felt almost as if I needed to build the work up and then take away all that was unnecessary - a bit confusing, not necessarily what was meant, but I couldn't shake it

I found this quote not long after and it seemed a better fit, in meaning as well as approach

"Things wabi sabi are understated and unassuming, yet not without presence or quiet authority"

(- Leonard Koren, Wabi Sabi for Artists, Designers, Poets & Philosophers)

That would be work I could aspire to create... but then "quiet authority" implied confidence and the belief in the completeness of the work - definitely not something I had an abundance of 

and then came this:

"we favour simple expression of the complex thought"

- Rothko/Gottlieb Manifesto 1943

and that was a "put-the-book-down-and take-this-in" moment

very simple and straightforward and something I could understand at a much deeper level than any of the others

taken all together though, each of the three contributing their own unique slant, they brought me to a place where I felt comfortable enough in my choices to say 

"this is all there needs to be and it is enough to say what needs to be said"

and then I was finally able to deal with the two samples that have been floating on my work deskfor more than a week as I fumbled to figure out what to do next with them

the creased silk that started me on my latest explorations laid on a creased page in my sketchbook

(thank you for that suggestion Karen Ruane, creasing the pages was a brilliant idea)

I did think briefly of adding drawn stitches such as French knots along some of the creases of the paper and whilst they may look better than good I like this page this way - it's only about the creases and so they on their own are enough

the brown silk piece inspired by the neckline of Martha's dress  nagged at me for days and two nights ago I cut off all the French knots

the chain stitch references the embroidery of her dress - I don't need to include all of the other embroidery to tell it's story

and then after all that came this:

"looking for the essence in the essential"

-Mark Rothko

and my oh my

there it was and here it is

the answer to the question and a way forward

I feel as though I've been a given a license to follow my instincts,  to let my desire spareness have it's day; for so long I've questioned if my work isn't too simple, or at least my desire for it

that a viewer wouldn't necessarily think it either wasn't finished or was a half-hearted effort at best

interestingly though, what I like about this thinking is that it isn't necessarily advocating for a design aesthetic that is spare or minimal rather, it's calling for there to be nothing present that isn't required

only what is essential must be present BUT everything that is essential must be

it's not just a matter of stripping things away and making plain 

"the whole truth and nothing but the truth"

as I go back to the sketchbook pages above I delight in the look of them - all I want them to say is there and all the possibilities that stem from them are also there, none are crowded out nor overwhelmed

it's a reference of a place to begin

elements of style

slowly moving forward with the wildflowers, but I don't think I have given the whole story behind it

let me rectify that now...

last year whilst in the Yukon from the end of January to mid-April I began thinking about working with the wildflowers I had picked the previous summer

as I did some random searching online I learned that Martha Black, a prominent figure in Yukon history had been an avid collector of wildflowers in the Yukon and had worked with them for much of her life

at one point her, and her husband George worked on a project together -as she gathered wildflowers from Dawson City and the surrounding area George photographed them and together they published a small book

"Yukon Wildflowers"

It's a charming book with the photographs, written descriptions, and the background of each page is watercolour paintings of Miles Canyon, near Whitehorse

I managed to locate a copy of it and it's on it's way to me... cannot wait

As well, when I was in the Yukon this past November I visited the museum and they had a dress of Martha's from almost 100 years ago as well as a few of her pressed flower works, mounted on paper with a watercolored background

the plant's colours have faded over the years but the composition remains, the painted shadows along the leaves and stems a beautiful addition

Martha's work has inspired me greatly but it is not my intention to copy it...  for mine I'm thinking of time passing, colours fading, lives lived and what remains

how that will translate into my work I have no idea but for now it's looking like this

the small photo in the above image is an off-colour print of her dress which is quite white with grey and beige beadwork and white embroidery

today, i'm using golden brown silk along with dark blue silk chiffon layered on another piece of the brown... I like the way the brown comes through in the light

(the photo has a blue cast to it and that's my inspiration)

stitching the neckline detail on the brown rather than beading it though I'm sure beadwork will end up in the mix before too long - not sure what if anything I'll put on the blue folds - I rather like them as they are

thoughts on the project as a whole are still loose, perhaps even a bit vague

I'm not ready to choose one path just yet - I'd rather meander here and there, keeping an eye out for what may be, much as Martha may have done as she wandered the hills and valleys of the Klondike searching for wildflowers

seems fitting

back to work

it's been an odd week, snow, snow and more snow

now cold

shoveling upended most of my creative plans but I did get the drawing in circles page finished

all the marks were inspired by lines, patterns and/or textures in the objects shown a few posts back

from the top, left to right:

driftwood lines

beaded detail of the bracelet

bracket punctuation from newspaper clipping

florets from Queen Anne's lace flower

opening in key handle

leaves of Queen Anne's Lace flower

"crackle" design of hat pin 

marks on the silver oval bracelet clasp

gold nugget on large napkin ring

circles traced with liqueur glass

curlicue from etching on wine glass

outline of silver Mexican medal

I've made a start on the coloured version but not enough to show yet

in the meanwhile, there has been some progress on the wildflower investigations

finally a couple of decent photos to work with

when I took the photos for the last post I noticed some interesting fold lines in the grey silk - one of you noticed their potential too

this week after a discussion in the Zoom meeting with my classmates in Karen Ruane's Alchemy class I started making samples of them - a lot of ideas were generated in that discussion but I haven't made it past the first one 

I've done four versions of it though!

using a fine sewing thread and lightweight linen fabric, a crease is formed and then stitched one fabric thread down from the fold

and this one on the grey silk, trying out incomplete lines

I like them very much

and here are the four pieces laid out together

the sample in the upper left has two pin-tucks that are raised (top and bottom) and the one in the middle goes the other way

I like that effect too

next is try a no-sew method suggested by one of my classmates

and tomorrow explorations with the flowers begin

it does feel good to finally be back to work

a fresh start

it's been such a long time since I've been able to spend any amount of time on creative pursuits but I'm ready to to get back at it... being away from my work these past two months has left me a tad disconnected from it so rather than try to force it I'm pivoting to something else for now

I've mentioned a few times wanting to work with some wildflowers I collected in the yukon during the summer of 2022 so I'll begin there

today I pulled some small collages I did a while back, chose a couple that really interested me and then began gathering various fabrics that might work well with them... for now I'm working with a two  different palettes

not at the point yet for making decisions about an actual layout, more a case wanting to get a sense of the possibilities

the grand plan is to incorporate imagery of the flowers using print, paint and/or stitch, most likely all three - choosing the fabrics and paper for the base gives me a start point for colour

today I played with layouts

this is one way

another

and yet another version - this time with a flower laid on

next is to pull larger pieces of the fabrics, find papers that could be interesting, play with more layouts and start some sketching - looking at the leaves and petals and seeing what can be done with them, as a whole, but also fragmented

a true representation, or the essence of it?

another option...

and another...

I like this one - the snowy piece on the left is golden fibre paste medium on scrim that I tried to print on but no luck - I got the scattered black marks and that was it

tomorrow I'll get into the drawers and cupboards in search of other fabrics and papers - these are still in the "let's see what the possibilities are" stage and I've yet to settle on a size for the finished pieces though I'm thinking somewhere around 11" x 14" or so

it's really going to depend on what I come up with for the flowers - that more than anything is going to dictate the required size

below is a sampling of some of the varieties of flowers I picked and pressed

lots of interesting shapes in these to work with

tomorrow is the first day in I don't know how long that there isn't anything at all that I have to do so I'll be in the studio for the whole of it

and so the new year begins