5H graphite & ink sketches of lichen, fungus and smoke through the eye of a needle
patterns in smoke, lichen & Spanish Moss (not Witches Hair)
nature’s weaving in phoenix palm sheath
don’t think I can do any more to the red tree in the Key Book
looking at lace in nature
Posted: June 6, 2015 by Mo Crow in It's Crow Time, LaceTags: bookbinding, Key Book, thread, works on paper
Comments
It's Crow Time 
Beautiful Mo. ox
thanks Marg, looking for the bones in the lace
I am trying to imagine this … how much stitch and embellishment this paper holds … trying to feel the weight and depth of it between my fingertips … and I’m in awe once again
not sure I even like the red tree but there’s certainly a lot of work in it!
And now it is here … to be pondered and treasured all-ways. Words fail me.
(((Liz))) you are a treasure!
beautiful addition of that lace on the red tree. love what you are doing here.
trying to find a new way of working with ideas of lace, I have an ambivalent attitude towards so much of the lace that I find in op (thrift) shops and haberdasheries which is just degraded reproductions of the Victorian era patterns
yes, i understand. i am much more interested in trying something new when doing my bobbin lace instead of just mimicking old patterns.
An amazing project. I think embroidery is like 3-dimensional drawing and you really take that to the next step. A multi-verse.
trying to get to an essence of ideas about lace with this exploration, the 3D nature of stitching down the plant material works best for me so far… working out a way to stitch smoke… I know how to draw it and carve it on glass will see if I can get it to work in stitch
These are special pages Mo !!! Lichen does look beatiful ! There
are small patches on our roof tiles in yellow (or even orangey)
Ha, love the witch’s hair. that plant is not known here …
(is it some kind of special paper, that you can stitch through ?)
oops mea culpa it’s not Witches Hair aka Alectoria sarmentosa… it’s Spanish Moss aka Tillandsia usneoides it loves a warm humid climate, the Key Book is a vintage Chinese accordion book I thought it was Japanese but a friend has one he bought for $5 in China back in the early 80’s full of beautiful watercolour landscapes paintings. It looks and feels like rice paper doubled to form the accordion folds & is coping with my mad stitchings quite well (I don’t actually like stitched paper but I seem to be doing some) when it is finished I will wax the most damaged pages to strengthen them
What a stunning addition to the book Mo . . . lovely.
am loving the accordion fold, it’s like playing with one of those old metal slinky toys
HA! Yes . . . the plastic ones just aren’t the same are they . . . the noise of the metal added to the magic. I was looking in a box of bits and pieces I had bought when I was living in Asia and found a couple of accordion books . . . one from Thailand and one from Myanmar, they’re nice saa paper so I’ll give some thought to using them. Not urgent though . . .
y’know this paper is so forgiving and strong it may well be saa… the lines in it made me think of rice paper but it would just be in the process
Lace in nature… I like this much better than the man-made kind, and I love what you’ve done with the red tree…
thanks Sharmon
It’s all interesting intricate. It’s striking me that among other things you are playing with your personal preferences in a challenging way. You don’t like stitch on paper and yet here it is. You’re not crazy about the red tree and yet there IT is. Maybe part of the books power lies in being willing to play on this edge of like/don’t like.
I tried to write a post about the attraction of anathema & how the repulsion can inspire my work but couldn’t get it into words so maybe this book is doing it for me, thanks for the thoughts Dee
Very special lace. Being surrounded by lace almost dayly i find this very refreshing……..
antique lace is so intricate and inspiring, working with them would be amazing!
I love your drawings Mo. And how you develop the stiching on paper. It looks great.
Thank you for visiting my blog and commenting. Have a good time.
thanks Doris, I love your flower portraits!
I love the red tree, Mo. And the concertina structure, which seems perfect for this book. Your explorations are fascinating to follow.
am looking forward to seeing what has abstracted with the stitchings on the back of the pages, I don’t want to peek until I get to the end and can turn it around!
hey, this is looking so good! really happy with what i’m seeing, and i so wish i could hold and read this one.
am enjoying playing with the folded form
I love your lace work Mo, especially the fungus,lichen & spanish moss. Have you seen ‘Lace in Translation’ book maybe @ your local library. I just need the welding kit & an oil drum in the garden
Hi Debbie, thanks for the heads up re the lace book (haven’t seen that one! there’s things brewing with the lace ideas…