Gathering Grief

 Here is the second piece in my "gathering" series. This is "Gathering Grief." This has been a year of far too many unexpected deaths of people I love. I thought this would make the creation of this piece easy. It wasn't. Tears always seem to come when I look at this piece so I guess I was successful in tapping into that sad place inside me. This piece is 48" h x 12" w so it is just a little shorter than "Gathering Stillness."

ClaySpace is still under construction and hopefully things will get back to normal soon as I am anxious to begin working on "Gathering Joy." I am still trying to figure out what color to make the bust part. So tell me when you think of joy, what color comes to mind?

Wishing you only peace today.

Gathering Grief Quilt Done!

Forgive the quickly pinned and crooked quilt in the photograph. I am just so excited that it's done and wanted to share! I have spent every free second working on this quilt. Five days and probably 8 hours a day.  I used more than two skeins of pearl cotton and a bag of beads that I purchased in 1999. How do I know when I purchased the beads? Rings and Things puts the date on the label. What are they thinking? However,  I don't feel guilty or bad because they were perfect and I had them when I needed them. No shopping necessary! Love my stash of things.

People are always surprised when I tell them that I find handwork very relaxing. It's been good to have something relaxing to do because I am entering a high stress period (the month of September). It's exciting but it is stressful! Lots of travel and new opportunities.

Now it's time to sew the quilts on the busts and get them out into the world. It feels so good to be done so join me in a happy dance around the block! Haven't given the neighbors anything to talk about for a while.

Gathering Grief Quilt

I am my own worst enemy when I think too much. In order to get moving on "Gathering Grief," I simply began and let the work speak for itself. I used a variety of textile paints and lots of cheese cloth.

Except for the stitching around the red, I plan to hand stitch the quilt with pearl cotton. If you look closely you will see the beginnings. There was going to be a hole in the middle, but I decided do reverse applique for stability. I actually like the way it looks.

It feels good to working on this quilt. As I work on this quilt, I think about the people I have lost recently and I am thinking about my next part of this series- "Gathering Joy."

I continually contemplate and journal what else I am gathering and whether or not I can create more for this series. I don't think I have been as excited about a series in a very long time.

My sculpture class begins on September 13. I am really excited and cannot wait for it to begin. I am sure I will find inspiration.  Wishing you an inspiring weekend!