Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Following The Thread


Two local events on the social calendar have me eagerly counting down the days.......
The first is the Folk Festival at the end of March when music lovers converge on our quiet, little village for a weekend of wonderful entertainment and fun. 
Along with international music acts we have a variety of home grown performers and it's NOT all folk music.

The second event is the annual art show....
 Fresh and Unframed which took place on Saturday.
You can enter up to 4 pieces, all are unframed and the price limit is $150.00.
 It makes art affordable and accessible.
The popularity  has been growing and people now know that if you want to snap something up then you need to be there when the doors open on Saturday morning..

I love it, because it gives people an opportunity to get their work out there and it's often surprising to find out what locals 'do'........

It's also a great time of year weather wise, the trees are all in leaf, the days are warming and daylight savings 'lengthens' the evenings which are delightful.

After a week of labouring over my work, which was meant to include a painting or two!!.......I finally delivered it last Wednesday after finishing them off that morning!!

They all turned out pretty much the way I had imagined them, but it was with some trepidation that I took them in and up till Wednesday morning I was still contemplating unpicking some stitching, but in the end I just had to leave it ....






 I recently discovered the poem  'Cloths of Heaven' by Yeats and it literally took my breath away.....
I can't explain the power of these words.........

Click on the pics to enlarge






 I knew there would be frayed edges and shimmery, silvery threads....




There had to be scraps of fabric, torn and tattered, stitched together......




I envy people who have the ability to put together words that can move people.......

 I may be a late bloomer when it comes to poetry Mr. Yeats, but I am none the less in awe .......




'He is richest who is content with the least,
 for content is the wealth of nature'......

Socrates

More frayed edges and wonky lines......






 'Age is Just a Number'


Inspired by the work of Julie Degruchy East and her wonderful loose, free style, I wanted to step outside the boundaries and try something a little different......

"Youth is the gift of nature,
 but age is a work of art'

Stanislaw Lec












I held my breath as I stitched the face, you can lose it very easily.
Far from perfect, I was happy to just finish it and not have to throw it into the scrap bag!! 




On display, sorry about the light......
can you see those little red dots.

All sold....result.


The local court house (no longer in use as such) where the exhibition is held.
It was a beautiful setting for the official opening Saturday evening.



A peek at some of the works on display....
Watercolour, acrylics, mixed media, ceramics, textiles,
pastels, collage, 




There are also 2 ante rooms full of art works.



Sunday morning a few stallholders set up under the trees.
This was the first time a market had been held in conjunction with the exhibition.
 A nice little add on.....


There were plenty of visitors  and no doubt more red dots were placed on artworks.......







Check out that gorgeous crocheted rug......
it belongs to Megan from Indigo Midge.


All in all a wonderful weekend, lots happening and the weather has been perfect.

As I sit here typing on Tuesday evening, rain is falling gently.
The garden needs a good drink and after spending a few hours weeding and pruning today in higher temps, it is very much welcome.

More time will be spent in the garden this week and then it's back into the sewing in readiness for my next market.....

Thankfully, the pressure won't be quite so intense.
I always leave things to the last minute, I did the same thing when I was at school. 
Preferring to work on things I wanted to rather than the things I had to......

Are you one of those sort of people, or are you organised and manage to finish things with plenty of time to spare?

Thanks for coming over to visit it's always nice to hear from you  I hope you have a productive week whatever you are working on......

Claire 

26 comments:

  1. Woooooooow! Just lifting my chin off the floor Claire - what amazing work, no wonder they all sold! Somebody has got themselves a real bargain - lucky things!!!! Love them all :D

    Looks like a great day out too - beautiful sunny weather for a stall (nice to 'see' you too!)
    I'm definitely the disorganised type, unfortunately!
    Alison x

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  2. Claire, your work is beautiful and I'm not at all surprised your pieces sold. WELL DONE!
    Anne xx

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  3. congratulations for your art work!!!!! all sold, wow!!!! Bravissima Claire!!!
    xxxx Alessandra
    P.S. I'm a little bit like you....I do my best in the last few minutes left!!!

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  4. Dear Claire,

    Your work and stall at the art fair look wonderful!! You must have been delighted to sell some of your beautiful embroidery. I wish we had fairs with affordable prices in Holland. It's sounds like fun!

    Enjoy your week!

    Madelief x

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  5. Your stitching is amazing. Well done for selling all four pieces, great news! Must be a good feeling too.

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  6. It really is art with thread! Wonderful creations there! :)

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  7. Oh, Claire,
    Love, love, love them!

    Great work, Karen

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  8. 'Cloths of Heaven' is such a beautiful poem - it's one of my favourites too. That's a lovely picture of you and your stall. Have a brilliant week.

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  9. Beautiful work! Is that you in the picture?
    xx
    julie

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  10. Such gorgeous art Claire. Congratulations. And the poems are so beautiful.

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  11. so nice to hear everything was sold...congratulations!!!
    and is that lovely red haired lady you in the picture??
    have a great week! :)

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  12. I studied that poem for my "O" Level English Literature. It is a masterpiece. Congrats on the selling.
    June

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  13. You are one clever chicky Claire! Your work is stunning, no wonder your sales are going so well.
    Yeats, Keating, Wordsworth - love them all. Wonderful words to reflect back on time and again.
    cheers Wendy

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  14. Im definitely one of those who has preferred to do things I want to do rather than should do, but Im in the process of changing, ;)

    No wonder they all sold Claire, they're one of a kind, you're stitching is very skillful, and the pieces are very creative.

    cheers
    Fi

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  15. I saw that poem for the first time on Angela's blog - just the other day, I think. It's beyond lovely - how do people write like that? Another bit of poetry you might like is this by T.L. Beddoes:

    Tell me how many beads there are
    In a silver chain
    Of evening rain,
    Unravell’d from the tumbling main,
    And threading the eye of a yellow star:
    So many times do I love again.

    What beautiful stitching in your works, and no surprise they all sold!

    P.S. I ALWAYS do things at the last minute. The very last minute. I work best under pressure (at least that's what I tell myself.)

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  16. Hi Claire, sounds like life has many things to be grateful for! Not at all surprised you sold all your entries. Your handiwork is incredible - one super dooper talented lady you are! Hope to see you at the next make it bake it ;-) Dee

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  17. Wonderful!! Both your stitching and the poems/sayings. Of course they sold! Your whole booth looks great! Yes, I do tend to be one of those super organized people, who plans things out to the last detail. It can be a blessing and a curse.

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  18. Back to answer your question: Ironing hams are these funny rounded shapes (hard like a pincushion) that are used to iron curved seams when sewing clothing. (when a big flat ironing board just won't do.) Since all of my sewing these days is for quilts and crafts, I never use mine anymore, so it was time for them to go. They usually come in two different shapes, one is really ham like, and the other is longer and skinny, used for sleeves, etc...

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  19. In awe....your work is gorgeous, and I, like the others, am not surprised it all sold....clever you!

    The poems are all lovely and set off brilliantly in your sewn style....your sewing continuously grabs me!

    Have a lovely weekend.

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  20. It's marvellous how you do your pictures on the sewing machine, I wouldn't know where to start.

    I've always left things to the last minute too. Occasionally I've started something in good time and got very near the end then thought "there's no rush", so gone onto other things, only then to be rushing at the last minute. When I used to make a lot of my own clothes years ago, I can't count the number of times I should have been getting ready to go out somewhere and I was still finishing the hem of a dress!

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  21. Your work is truly breath taking....of course it was all going to sell.....xxxx

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  22. THe affordable art show is a great idea, and your work is amazing. Wow!!

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  23. Claire, I am in absolute awe of your talent..What a fantastic idea to have an exhibition where prices are achievable for the majority of people..Congratulations on selling all your work.xx

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  24. oh your stitching is delightful - gorgeous. What a great way to hold an art exhibition and having stalls outside too.

    Thank you so much for visiting me. It's been lovely visiting you !

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  25. Claire, don't know how I missed this post! 4 red dots, fabulous! Congratulations : -) Love your stitched artworks.

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  26. Hello Claire, I was blown away by your beautiful stitching artwork - you are truly talented and no wonder everything sold.
    I do like the sound of the Fresh and Unframed. It would keep everyone happy... the buyers and sellers.
    Well done to you and keep up the good work :D)
    Oh, and the flowers in your garden are so pretty and all bursting with good garden vitality.
    Cheers now :D)

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