Whilst stitching a pear leaf into the ‘Out of the Blue’ book this morning I had a little break
& visited Jude Hill over at Spirit Cloth to find her dancing with leaves too!
I love the synchronicity and observing the balancing act of our planet across the ether
it’s cold here in Sydney for November & it’s warm over there in New York
stitching the fragile dry leaf into my book shattered some of the edges
so I am repairing them with a bit of very old German lace
& here’s a photo of the melaleuca bark, papyrus and native grass that created the asemic writing above LHS
a few hours later…’tis done the edge was too fragile to do any more stitching so I painted little white dots
highly influenced by seeing Joshua Yeldham’s brilliant survey show
The Leaf Dance
Posted: November 11, 2014 by Mo Crow in It's Crow Time, magicTags: bookbinding, thread
Comments
It's Crow Time 
Lace and leaf: my eye just stays there, transfixed at the leathery and ethereal fragility and beauty before me…
thanks for the good words Marti, I wasn’t happy with my stitching it was too coarse in relationship to the fragilty of the leaf but the lace helps, I want to do more with the edge but have to go very carefully as the dry leaf is so very fragile
I am loving your leaf dance, Christine at http://christinemauersberger.com/ has been stitching with leaves, it must be the time of year, well for us in the north anyway.
thank you for the link to Christine’s work Debbie, there’s a whole lot of cloth conjurors using leaves & petals, Judy Martin showed us this amazing ‘rose petal shroud’ by Beverly Ayling Smith in her review of the World of Threads Festival
Jane of Epock Textiles has been doing lots of lovely work with lace & leaves it’s even more amazing in real life
Susan Fletcher Conway’s exquisitely stitched exploration of leaves here, here, here & here
Liz Ackert did some delightful leaf weaving during the Considering Weave What-If with Jude
Gentlework’s quietly stitched leaves and flowers are such an inspiration, I have her Honesty
and the queen of leaf stitching is Jenine Shereos, she stitches the most delicate leaves with human hair
love how you’re repairing the leaf with lace
Hi Saskia, the lace almost worked but now that I added the white dots ’tis done, I love this little book so much!
yes the dots work well, did you add them after I commented? I don’t remember seeing those yesterday
Hi Saskia, this post and the leaf evolved yesterday morning from 2am til just after sunrise when the dots happened!
Neither lace nor leaf alone would have been as wondrous as the two together … truly a dance in stitch on both the back and the front
And many thanks for the list of leaf-lovers … I knew of some, but will enjoy perusing more
Hi Liz, do you mind putting up a link to your leaf weavings when they were still fresh & green & then dry to share with those of us who weren’t in Considering Weave?
It’s my pleasure!
http://imgoingtotexas.blogspot.com/2014/11/beyond-be-leaf-look-back-at-considering.html
thanks Liz, love how the leaves turned to gold when they dried out!
wow I love the lace on the leaf. Have you looked at Hannah Streefkerk’s work? She did the wrapped stones “to care for” at sculptures this year.
I loved her work at Sculpture by the Sea and had looked at her website after visiting but had forgotten her mended leaves!
should have included the link
Hannah Streefkerk
thanks for the link to Hannah Streefkerk’s sensitive work Jane!
Here’s some more links to amazing artists working with stitch and leaf these days-
Hillary Fayle
Meredith Woolnough
Tracey Deep
Anne Ten Donkelaar
Laura Youngson Coll
Michelle McKenney
Susanna Bauer
Oh and how could I forget Shona Wilson she doesn’t stitch these days but her sensitivity to the materials is a major inspiration!
PS your earlier comment has moved down this thread as the post it was nested under looked like a spam so I deleted it !
Your “out of the blue” book is so wonderful ! Must be great working on it and seeing it grow … stitch by stitch
it’s just a little warm up exercise to start each day Els, am really enjoying finding a place for all those little bits and pieces as they surface and then having the freedom to play with them!
I love the suggestion of line made from the crisscross stitches to hold that leaf in place. The pressed plants and stitching are lovely, Mo.
thanks for the good words Susan I was disappointed with the coarseness of the stitches especially when they were harming the leaf more than mending it early this morning but it has resolved itself now with the added lace and the white dots
The lace, stitches and dots meld so well with the leaf…its surprising but true. Each compounding mark brings the whole closer together. Thanks for all the links….you always suggest such interesting people.
thanks for the good words Dana, this one surprised me!
I really like this. So delicate and evocative.
thanks for visiting & the good words Anita!
That leaf and lace is all kinds of beauty…
thanks Deb the gessoed pages are quite stiff & I waxed the leaf both front and back so it should be safe now
Absolutely beautiful, Mo! Words fail me…