words of wisdom

I was inspired to stitch this as I wanted to elaborate on my idea of little reminders and make something more detailed, a tactile textile book of sorts. A hand stitched, handbook, a manual for life, something to treasure and keep and be sought out when needed.  It's hard to capture all the details and quotes I've included, hence so many photographs, but I hope I've given you a sense of it .... I'm already gathering ideas for a companion piece called  'words of comfort......

Trevethoe House

I spent a lovely evening on Tuesday with the ladies of  Shrewsbury Embroiderer's Guild, talking about my work and chatting to them. I took along some work to show them and this was one of the pieces I took.

I don't have a formal education in textiles, I've learned along the way over the years, and I can't remember a time when I wasn't making things. I used to regret not having studied art or textiles, feeling that it put me at a disadvantage, but I don't anymore. A lot of my work is very personal and draws on my experience of life and I don't think I'd be making the work I do now without having been on a personal and creative journey.

This piece is about a year of my life, in 2005 (although I didn't stitch this piece until later, in 2012). During this year, myself and my husband took a 'year out' from full time work to concentrate on our creative selves, after the sale of a home and a business and a long period of stress. It was during this year, and having this time to devote to my art that marked a turning point in the work I was making, when lots of different elements came together. We rented a house in a rural location, the first time I'd experienced living in the countryside, something which was to have a profound effect on my work and my creative process. The house was called Trevethoe House.

have hope....

Hope is like a light flickering within you - though at times it shines more brightly. I thought it was apt to surround the words in this tiny box with the tiniest sequins and beads to shine and catch the light.
I like the way the little boxes look together. A collection of tiny tokens, to be called upon in times of need, slipped into a pocket, closing fingers around them, a comfort.

tiny token

This tiny and perfect little box was given to me by a friend. You can see how small it is next to the cotton reel. Once the home of a treasured ring, now it's a tiny stitched reminder to be mindful, if only for a moment, something I think we all need to be reminded of from time to time.

Courage, dear heart.

I found this little box at the antique fair and knew exactly what I needed to do with it. It's just the right size for a pocket, a tangible reminder to keep going when times are tough, like some kindly words from a good friend that you can carry around with you. The quote is by C.S. Lewis.

Fear grows if you tend it....

I thought I'd share this with you, again a personal piece I made a while ago. I was stitching my way through a period of anxiety.. I shared glimpses of it with you in this post. It's a patchwork of vintage fabrics including a very old piece of quilting which is almost threadbare in places. It is edged in a lovely raw knobbly silk (not vintage - I do occasionally mix in bits of new fabric!). The piece with the tiny red pattern on in the image above,  I picked up at my local car boot sale. That's one of the things I  love about gathering vintage materials, remembering where I found them and wondering what stories they have to tell.

More things I forgot to remember....

I had such a lovely response from you to my last post on these little textile reminders that I thought I would show you some more. I really appreciate all your comments and it's good to know that aspects of my work sometimes strike a chord in others. I'm working on a bigger, more detailed piece like these little ones, I look forward to sharing it with you....