Detail showing hand stitching
This photo shows the detail of the hand stitching I have been doing on the barnacle/urchin piece. It is looking distinctly more urchin like and the stitching is taking forever- serves me right for taking up hand stitching after years of only doing machine stitching.
It has been one of those blegh weeks and then a commission I was hoping to do over the next two months fell through- bye bye income, and I have not really got anything else planned to replace what I would have earnt. That is the problem with working freelance, when things fall through it can have a major impact on your practice because you have allocated time for the project , but if for some reason the project falls through you are stuck. The joys of being self employed. I guess i will have to do the summer markets again and hope for good weather on Saturdays. And unfortunately my studio is not finished so i can't teach in there yet either. The one upbeat thing is that I finally managed to get going on my nanowrimo novel and am now at the 12000 word mark. I just started writing, not too much planning and I am intrigued how the characters seem to take you to the next stage and how some of them dominate others despite you're best intentions. It is actually a strange process for when you write for a project oriented book everything needs to be defined and contained within parameters- but a novel is so open-ended. I am sure it is why Luigi Pirandello wrote Six Characters in Search of an Author- well i think they found me all of eighty or so years later....
Oh and btw- all of my work is for sale in case anyone is interested- and I am prepared to bargain if necessary (ggg). I also do commission work. I shall put pictures of new work on my picturetrail site tomorrow and I intend to do some dyeing next week when the fabric I have ordered arrives next week ( early I hope)- so I will put some more of the interesting dyed pieces on the site as well.
Someone asked about my book- I do have some for sale but if you are in America there are a couple of craft book places that have it for sale and it would be cheaper for you to order the book from them.
I am also planning my next trip to Europe next year for May- June 2006. If anyone out there is interested in having me come and teach please contact me and I can send you more details and workshop lists.
3 comments:
Hi Dijannne, what a bummer about the commission. I envy the fact that you are able to really devote yourself to your work, but relying on the fickle buyer to put food on the table must really suck.
I was going to email you to ask whether you accept layby because I'd like to buy one of your pieces:-) but I couldn't find a way to contact you other than the comments here. I'm just about to put in a big paper order so my budget is going to take a big hit this month. But if I could layby and pay off over a period of time then I could manage it!
Anyway, I think my you'll be able to contact me through my blogger profile if you are interested.
Cheers
Claire
I admire beautiful machine work, especially done by those who are really proficient at it like yourself and Jenny O'Dempsey, (http://jensfootsteps.blogspot.com/), but there is something extra special about hand stitching. It adds a textural dimension that machine work can't capture in quite the same way. I really like the look you're achieving with your hand work in this piece Dijanne. :o)
I guess we all bave yucky times when things don't quite go to plan, but I'm sure it won't last long! Your work is truly beautiful. I love the colours and shapes in your quilts and find them so inspiring. I'd love to buy fabric and maybe even a quilt but couldn't find prices etc. Do you have a specific website for this? ( I bought some fabric from you when you were in Wheedon,England in March and the resulting quilt sent me in a completely new direction.)
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