Looking Back

While I was reading Claire Wellesley-Smith's new book Resilient Stitch ~ Wellbeing and Connection in Textile Art I took a look around my home office at my little collection of slow-stitched art pieces that she inspired me to make. This one is the very first I made; I embroidered a piece of hand-dyed recycled silk on muslin to depict a setting from one of my stories.

This piece I made from memory; it shows a life-changing moment I had atop a mountain in Tennessee.

I made this piece from a piece of old, pilled flannel that reminded me of my grandmother's favorite robe. The tree is one that grows in my backyard. Trees are often a theme in my work.

My word embroidery isn't that great, but I wanted to express how I feel about fall -- the apprehension over the impending holidays, the depression from watching things turn brown, and how much I wish I could skip October, November and December and just go right to January.

I followed up the fall piece with one about something I do like during winter: the colder temperatures, and the occasional frosts we have here.

A piece I cobbled together while feeling particularly isolated, and trying to express that through my stitching.

One of my stronger pieces; I was feeling very determined and focused after making some very difficult life decisions.

My two largest art quilts, each made during a summer of my life when I gave myself permission to play (something that's still hard for me) instead of make useful things to give to other people (my creative default.)

I don't belong to a creative community in real life; I keep to myself and rarely show anything I make even to my family. My textile art has always been a very personal thing for me. This year on Twitter I've slowly found other artists who share the same interest and joy in creating, and I feel as if they're becoming my community. So that's progress, too.