Starry, Starry Skies

A great site for inspiration is the Astronomy Picture of the Day Calendar (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html).  These awesome photos show what a great universe we are part of and how beautiful it can be.

My group of online quilting friends has a challenge due on Nov. 28th for a small (8″ x 10″) quilt that gets its inspiration from one of the photos from this site. My piece is based on an entry for May 2007 and is of the Bright Spiral Galaxy M81. This was a challenge to work on for me because of my limited mobility, so I could only use those items I could easily put my hands ons. I decided I’d use this as an experimental piece, and  so started out with a commercial cotton of the night sky, used Stewart Gill Alchemy paints (http://www.artistcellar.com) to paint on the spiral galaxy, and then beads to add in the stars. I’m not one who puts beads on very many things, and it is certainly a tedious job, but I do think it was the right embellishment for this litte quilt. I chose to fray the edges rather than put on a binding because I believe the universe has no end and didn’t want a binding to confine the galaxy. This was a really fun challenge, and I encourage you to look at the APOD site and see what inspiration you receive from it.

Ancient Mysteries, Eternal Truths

“Ancient Mysteries, Eternal Truths” is a whole cloth wall hanging that seems especially appropriate for posting on Thanksgiving Day. The piece is loaded with symbolism of the things for which all people give thanks: the sun represents happiness, the eagle is Freedom, rainclouds for good prospects, the circle with rotating arcs stands for the four stages of life, the bear claw is good omens, and medicine man’s eye (diamond shape) is for wisdom. The Universal Mother, basis of the quilt, has no eyes because Truth and Love are known with the heart and soul, not with one’s eyes.  This quilt has powerful meanings for me, and it is one that I cherish. She occasionally makes the trip to art shows, but mostly stays at home and is displayed above our fireplace.   I have plans to make a series of quilts based on Native American legends that feature women, but they are hard to come by.

 

So far there is one other piece in the series: “Aliquipiso, The Warrior Woman”. This piece is based on an Oneida legend about a young woman who gives her life to save her people from being slaughtered by their mortal enemies. After her death her hair turned into woodbine, which the legend says is still referred to as the blood of a brave woman. All of the stitching on both quilts is done free motion on my trusty Bernina, and I think that both quilts are very powerful. A third one (White Buffalo Woman, a Sioux legend) is on the design board, but no progress has been made on it for awhile. Hopefully this winter I’ll be able to work on it once I am more mobile.

The Fall of My Discontent

I normally really look forward to fall and the coming of winter: I like the cold days, the changing of the leaves, and am always anxious for the first snow to come. Seems that I am inspired to create more in fall and winter also – I suppose because life in general slows down until the Christmas rush. This fall, however, has me feeling discontented, discouraged, and depressed – those dangerous “D” words. I know that it is all related to my knee replacement and the lack of progress on my therapy. By now (3 weeks out) I had hoped to be moving better and to have graduated from a walker to crutches, but instead I am going backwards. My knee is freezing up and tomorrow the surgeon will decide if it’s time to do a manipulation (under anesthesia, praise the gods) to tear out the scar tissue or if he wants me to continue to try therapy. In my heart I know I need the former and I am scared spitless over the whole ordeal. There is the source of my three Ds.

Today’s photo is of the piece I created for the Graham Gallery’s (http://www.graham-gallery.com) ”PO Box 617″ art competition in August. Each artist had to use the frame of an old Post Office box as the basis for their artwork. When I first saw the boxes I was instantly transported back to my college days as we used those same type of boxes in the dorm for our mail. And so “Wednesday Morning at the Dorm: Letters from Home” was born. My freshman year was both exhilirating and scary, and I depended on letters from home to help maintain my sanity. The best letters came from my older sister, who was married and had an infant daughter – an entirely different world than the one I was living in. She would add in some quarters for laundry, occasionally a little gift or two, and always managed to make me smile. That same sister has been my savior these last two weeks, hauling me to therapy and taking care of me while my husband is settling his  father into his winter home in Texas. Were it not for her, both this fall and that fall 32 years ago would have been unbearable for me.

I swore early on that this blog would not be centered on personal things, and so I apologize for breaking my own rules. I did, however, feel that an explanation was needed for my long absence, especially as posts will continue to be infrequent until I can get this phyiscal situation resolved. I have neither the physical stamina nor the emotional fortitude to be creative, so bear with me and let’s hope I can get back on track soon. Life is too short to be lived going backwards.