Wednesday, October 26, 2011

a few treasures

"heroes take journeys,
confront dragons,
and discover the treasure
of their true selves."
-carol lynn pearson


my journeys of late have been from the arm of my chair, traveling the hidden causeways of the world wide web, and the only dragon that i've confronted is this beautiful bit of vintage silk wool kimono dragon! it journeyed to me all the way from japan and is one of my newest treasures. it has not whispered its intent in my ear as yet, but for the moment is resting from its long journey up on the wall of my studio. i hear the wind blowing...and listen quietly for the dragon to begin its tale...


along with the wondrous dragon came this lovely bit of vintage silk kimono in soft brown check and weave. it has already sought the company of a few other bits of vintage silk kimono in my collection and begun whispering amongst themselves. perhaps, soon, they will share their whispers with me?


and finally, along with the dragon came this beautiful bit of vintage silk kimono filled with birdsong and the fragrance of delicate flowers! this is whispering louder...but my japanese is a bit rusty. i shall have to brush up on it a bit...


and last, for today, came this marvelous miniature steel skeleton key...complete with a passing resemblance to its namesake. this came to me all the way from latvia and hasn't stopped whispering since he arrived! already there is a silver jump ring and chain dancing out of my jeweler's bench to offer him a quiet home around my neck where he can whisper his stories peacefully all day and all night long...

i think he is foretelling the nature of my next post!

meanwhile, i have so many other treasures to share...but they will have to wait a day or two as there are some noisy whisperers calling to me from the studio...

namaste'

Sunday, October 16, 2011

knotted experiments



wow! life seems to keep getting in the way... i have several drafted posts that just can't seem to finish manifesting for one reason or another. so i've decided to take a few moments and simply tie knots and wrap fabric strips to do a little judesque experimentation... am tossing bits into the yard to see what happens to them. am eyeballing a few more strips and scraps for similar experimentation...and even, perhaps, applying a bit of shibori technique (would this be shiboreco? ha!), but then allowing the elements and time to be the dyes.  it shall be interested to watch. more on these soon...

in the meantime, i have a few more hours of needle chanting to accomplish, and then some much needed, often neglected, sleep to catch up on... and then a fun trip into town to mail off some fabrics to a dear person in australia and to hopefully pick up a stack or two of packages of fiber treasures that i've been waiting for from india, indonesia and japan!

namaste'

Sunday, October 2, 2011

well-worn steps

between saying
and doing
many a pair of
shoes is worn out. 
~italian proverb


i feel like i've been climbing these steps for too many years. it feels good to be doing something again! i've finally got my feathers for jude's magic feather project packaged and ready to ship tomorrow. i'm down to the last few inches of binding on a quilt that has been languishing for longer than i care to admit (even to myself) so i can get it shipped this week, too. i even managed to make the long-awaited chocolate eclairs for my oldies at work:


...and boy were they ever tasty!! now it's time to begin finishing a few other projects...but first, a good night's sleep! haven't had one of those in too long...

namaste'