I Went Looking

looking through drawers and boxes, for work done before that could inform work being done today

images of folded, painted paper floated through my mind

textured silk with machine-stitched parallel lines followed

as did those of rough linen

more stitched lines, this time with two strands of thread

first the back

below, the front

these are what I think of as "base lines"

a first pass with a thread that matches the linen

next will be another pass over top, this time with something different - a slightly different colour

to add depth and shadow

papers painted a while back

folded and stitched

by the time I basted them all I decided the stitching flattened the folds and if I add textured stitching 

(as on the fabric)

the fold lines may disappear and it will be as if they were never there

letting the idea and the thoughts sit for a while...

textured silk, with machine-stitched lines

 failed pin-tucks from a while back, kept just in case

not sure I like the straightness of the lines but when I'm developing an idea I like to consider all that comes to mind and this is more about using textured silk as a base fabric than the use of straight lines

though you never know

 looking at the textured silk made me think of some tissue paper collage I had also done a while back

the look is very similar to that of the silk though the paper somehow lends itself more to looking like ice than the silk

there is also a "fragility" to it that I like

but that also makes it more difficult to hand stitch

which then led me to did out a piece I made where I combined small pieces of scrim with the tissue paper

similar look, stronger result

much to look at, and to think about

I like this stage of the process but I can also easily get caught up in it and try all sorts of things and overwhelm myself with options

knowing that, I plan to keep myself somewhat on the straight and narrow

try a few things, make a decision, get on with it

before the ice melts and my interest floats away with it