Sea Urchin II Mo 17
6cmW x 3.5cmH
needlelace over Whisper silk organza & boar bristles, French knots & glass beads
sadly overworked to a lumpy travesty of the form
it lost the delicate laciness and all those wispy edges
by trying too hard & hoping that if I just kept going it would work out in the end… it doesn’t …
the good news is I was given this felted wool cardigan that a friend accidentally put in the washing machine
it will be perfect for Sea Urchin III
Braille for the Soul is the working title for my new body of work investigating what we read through the haptic sense of touch in stitch
the misbegotten one looks happy sitting on the shelf with the Barrel of Fun
a sad Sea Urchin II
Posted: January 18, 2017 by Mo Crow in Braille for the Soul, It's Crow TimeTags: lace, netting, thread
Comments
It's Crow Time 
hmm…interesting concept, Mo.I look forward to seeing what you do.Tactile imagery!
me too!
Yes, I see what you mean, especially comparing the finished urchin with the work in process. Sometimes the end product really subverts one’s intentions in surprising ways, but as a lesson I’m betting your buttoned down urchin will allow your future urchins to shine more brightly
I learned so much by taking it way too far & this is a year for exploration and pushing edges, the felt will be a delight as I want to work at a bigger scale
It looks wondrous from here, but touch and dimensionality don’t translate well to cyber-viewing. Lucky us that we get to go along for the ride as I’m especially intrigued by how a felted sweater fits in to the mix!
I will make the pattern and cut out the pieces after the Southerly Buster comes through & cools everything down this arvo, it’s HOT and it’s only 9am!
Just as Nature is unique in each of its creations, so are we and what we create in our hands and mind.
you are kind Susan but this one is definitely overwrought, a reflection of a very hot week that has cooked my brain!
Mo, if you’re not happy with your urchin then you’re not happy. But it does look pretty cool sitting there in the last photo with the barrel and the skull. Oh, do I mean cool? No, we are all sweltering here but the wind is getting up and fingers crossed, that southerly buster really will happen.
The urchin works better nestled next to Josh Harker’s “Crania anatomica filigree” It’s still so very hot, loved the photos of the pool!
astounding creations in that last photograph!
Your attention to detail work is always a wonder to me.
it’s enjoying the company with your feather in Josh’s filigree 3D printed skull
I think sometimes are our own harshest critics Mo. I see this as an urchin, a fully formed and realised urchin. It mustn’t be what you thought it would be, but in a way, it simply is what it is. Don’t be too tough on yourself and absolutely go forth and make Urchin III! Time making art is never wasted…
(((Fiona))) just wish I had photographed the beautiful moment when it was just stitched together & still had all the bristly wispy bits, it looked like a wild moon… there will be another lace one in this series which will be a moon not an urchin… & about being our own best critics, we are, that’s part of the creative process, we have to push at the edges of good taste and make some truly awful dead on arrival things to find the beauty, I always think of the 1985 film Blade Runner when it’s time to let something go, the dark beauty of Roy Batty’s final scene-
“I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain. Time to die.”
“as i want to work at a bigger scale”……o, eeeeeeeeeeee
this misbegotten one is so fussily Victorian, it reeks of spinster aunt busywork (not dismissing fine old Victorian lace but still there is something about it that is too … fussy) the next one is nearly a foot across! have cut out all the felt and will start stitching the edges this morning!
scale changes everything
it does ! I nearly gave up on the much bigger Mk3 yesterday as it looked like it was going to take way too long for a piece that has the potential to be both twee and kitsch but what the heck why not?
A moon urchin, a big fat moon urchin . . . I’m waiting. And summer? It hasn’t stayed here for more than a day or two.
just cut the felted cardigan into 10 diamond shapes (like a flattened beach ball), such beautiful soft stuff, the needle glides through like butter, it’s been so bloody hot here, my brain melted down yesterday, the southerly buster finally kicked in at dusk and it’s a lot cooler today!
‘keep on keeping on’ – Curtis Mayfield … There is such beauty in this blog you do as a creative process and you share for us to see…
(((Susi))) am loving this new year of exploration through stitch & was surprised by the deeply visceral gut reaction yesterday when asked to exhibit the Crow Show again this year in a local library, realized how much I need this space to just explore with no particular destination in mind!
Spread those wings Mo Crow and see where they take you
working bigger and loosening up with Sea Urchin III as my messy wayward stitching continues to undo the original intent…
While I think it is rich and beautiful, and would love to hold and feel it, I understand what you are feeling. I seem to overwork most of my paintings these days, think I’m enjoying the process too much, and then there was that ship last week that needed sinking in the end.
I loved your shipwreck, disasters can take the work to places that were never intended but sometimes they can be quite exciting !
What maker hasn’t experienced that point of… I should have stopped… back there. I love that you are continuing though. You will come to understand so much about the sea urchin.
cameras and scanners help a lot with recording process but I forgot to photograph this one in that brief moment when it worked before it turned in on itself… I need to do some bigger drawings as well as making this big (close to a foot in diameter) Sea Urchin III, also want to use some fatter threads, bigger needles and am inspired to try working blindfolded by Leonie Andrews latest post
I understand what you mean it had lost its airiness but for me not its “sea urchiness”. It seemes to be heavy in contrast to the other things you create usually. From my point of view heavy has its good sides too in the meaning of strong.
thank you Doris, sometimes how I think something should turn out gets in the way of seeing what’s really happening, yesterday I nearly trashed the rough beginnings of Sea Urchin III and then stopped myself… remembering to slow down, gently touch the surface and listen to the urchin!
your sense of detail amazes me.
you’re “just going” stitching through the thicks and thins of it all amazes and inspires me!
PS I have to be careful as the obsessive attention to detail can sometimes just be a cover for vacancy in thoughtfulness
it’s so beautiful but the natures gifts is perfect in it’s self
but your version is pure beauty Mo, don’t diminish it
dagdag
(((Yvette))) slowly starting to see it for what it is in all it’s bumpiness & there are good things happening in Sea Urchin III!
am curious to see where this new project will lead you…..
did a blind sketch that I am happy with & having fun translating it to stitch in the next panel will take photos in a few hours
Oh my word! I’ve just discovered your sea urchin posts and am blown away. No spinster aunt busywork here. You are amazing Mo. I’m inspired!
thanks for the encouraging words Robyn, am quietly excited about this exploration of stitching as Braille for the Soul