halfway to reaching for the stars

reaching for the stars (halfway there)  Mo18
detail of starry lace stitched with linen thread from the stars cut out of the ivory kid leather
the other side
detail
with the pristine right hand glove waiting for its stars
then I need to make a simple wire armature so they can be seen front and back or alternatively suspend them from the fingertips with very fine thread…

reaching for the stars is getting there!

“Reaching for the Stars” is still in process Mo18
cutting out each star with a no 11 scalpel blade and then binding the edge with linen thread
the edge is turning into starry lace
the other side
details
close to finished with this left hand glove, then onto the right hand glove!

reaching for the stars

Reaching for the stars, cutting stars out of a pair of vintage white leather elbow length evening gloves, I want them to float and turn into a starry lace trail… they will need some sort of “bones” maybe wrapped sticks or wire not sure will make them first…
I like the trace of lipstick from the past
couching linen thread pentacles over the blanket stitched raw edges
sometimes I just need to stitch….
this drawing went past the point of no return (ripped up & binned) after feeling totally inspired by the Cressida Campbell show, will have another go soon, it’s a most wonderful seedhead!

The Hands of Fate

The Hands of Fate Mo 16
are finished!
vintage chamois leather evening gloves embroidered with silk threads, embellished with grape & passionfruit vine tendrils, Acacia sp (aka florist’s Zig Zag), boar bristles, emu & rainbow lorikeet feathers, eucalyptus seed capsule, Cecile Brunner rosebud,  a fragment of butterfly wing, boar’s tooth that I wore as an earring for 20 years, the copper blue wing bone of a fruit bat electrocuted in the power lines 11 years ago, the last of the Italian murrini star beads, a good clear single point crystal with a beaded lace hilt, turquoise, moss agate, glass & clay beads, the cold fish I carved from a paua shell with a bandaged heart from back in 2008, quail wishbone and the shaft of an eagle’s flight feather fretworked by mortuary beetles back in 2013, display box made from craftboard collaged with The Gardener’s Catalogue (1974), embroidered  & painted rotted lace ribbon with laser cut stars from Els of FiberRainbow
you can see photos of these gloves in process widdershins here

playing with The Hands of Fate

playing with The Hands of Fate
magical configuration mk2 Mo 16

making a box for The Hands of Fate

the late 1800’s steamer tray trunk from Drunk on the Moon was too warped and stained for The Hands of Fate so I made a box out of craftboard and PVA glue
and started covering the surface with my much loved  42 year old copy of The Gardener’s Catalogue
this book has seen me through so many changes, the paper is brittle and worn & so am I… working on the floor for three days was fun but yikes! every muscle and bone started complaining yesterday, I was surprised as I loved working on the floor in my bedroom in a series of share houses right up until my late 20’s!
moved everything to my bench & it’s so much easier!
inside of the box covered in favourite images and words
underneath in process
& started stitching some very old rotted silk to a wide ribbon
which will be embroidered with The Hands of Fate

looking at the hands of fate

just having a look at the Hands of Fate in an old rosewood frame on some red tissue paper
on old white silk
have added some more bits of significant magic, a boar’s tooth on the gardener’s hand is mirrored with boar bristle vibrissae stitched into the fingertips and the elbow edge of the sleeve on the dreaming hand, along with the copper blue wing bone of a fruit bat that was electrocuted in the power lines 11 years ago, the last of the Italian murrini star beads, and a good clear single point crystal with a beaded lace hilt
the old steamer trunk tray at Drunk on the Moon may work purrfectly or perhaps making a red (or old ivory) silk lined box out of cardboard covered in black leather… these are the sorts of decisions I love making!

moving along with the Hands of Fate

Hands of Fate Mo 2015-2016
just added some special treasures that have been incubating for years… turquoise, moss agate, rosebuds and a fragment of the butterfly wing that represents transformation on the gardener’s hand with the cold fish healing heart, quail wishbone & rosebud from  the Shen Gourd and the shaft of an eagle’s flight feather fretworked by mortuary beetles back in 2013 for the dreaming hand.
Now I need to find a fabulous old silk lined glove box or suitcase (650mm long x 310W is a strange size so will probably make one), they are getting very close to finished and will go in the Crow Show

Let it go… set it free

Sometimes what seems like a really good idea just doesn’t want to go that way…
the Gardener’s Hand is  growing
tendrils & feathers from the fingertips
it’s a wild thing that needs to go it’s own way
Michael Leunig says it so well

spheres of influence

forget me nots are a favourite flower, one of the perquisites of being a gardener is we get to bring the trimmings home
that forget me not blue has found it’s way into the gardener’s glove & I may have seen something like these gloves when I was a young girl poring over the illustrations in Adrienne Ségur’s Fairy Tale Book
(yes, have a look at Puss in Boot’s gloves!)
and in this 21st C world there is all the wonderful work shared on the internet
Jude Hill of Spirit Cloth is taking a month off after completing the Magic Feather Project
Christine Kelly of Gentlework is working fine magic for Daphne’s Glove – A Group Gathering
Grace of Windthread is stitching the quivering awareness of a Praying Mantis
Dee Mallon’s Hearts for Charleston Quilt is being built with love
&  Judy Martin’s deep insights into her process are brilliant
that’s just the places I have visited online this morning, there’s lots more in the sidebar to the left
then there’s the real life experience of visiting local art galleries, last week we visited “Flight” at the Balmain Watch House here’s a link to their collaborative centrepiece “Flight of the Bumble Bee” (click on the pic to see all the fantastic details!)
on the weekend we saw the Salon de Réfuses at the SH Ervin Gallery after seeing the Archibald, Wynne & Suliman at the AGNSW a few weeks ago (the first time I have bothered to brave the crowds since 1973 & it was worth it) love the detailed work of Max Miller (a bit like John Wolseley in miniature) who won the Trustee’s watercolour prize, the portrait of Charles Waterstreet by Nigel Milsom was a well deserved win and I was mesmerized by the magical moth “This is not here” by Cameron Potts in the Sulman. I am also blessed to be friends with the amazing sculptor Bronwyn Berman who is working on her piece for Sculpture by the Sea, we catch up once a week to talk about art, life, the universe and everything.
whilst stitching those tiny leaves around the thumb this morning I realized Crow Amulet IV needed a bat claw
funny how that little dash of red tying the claw in brings it to life
well that’s enough fiddling about… it’s 5am and time to get a few hours of editing done before a big day of gardening if the rain holds off!
PS a few hours later, the sun’s out, have added more to this post about local art exhibitions & artists and am just getting ready to go and do some gardening in the hope I can get my feet back on the ground!