If ever I could find a velvet frock such as this one, something in this exact shade of green,
I just might be encouraged to change my mind forever about the wearing of dresses
(which I never wear)
Yes. Definitely. This would persuade me.
oh, and the glorious stitching details at the cuffs...
~ painting by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, 'Veronica Veronese' ~
These I would NOT wish to wear,
not one little bit...
ever.
They must have been the height of fashion in their day, worn by Lady Mary Stanhope around 1660...
blue velvet, embroidered with silver gilt thread...once tied across the tongues
with decorative ribbons perhaps...
~ Shoe Collection, Northampton Museum & Art Gallery, UK ~
Back to the future...where a wall can be velvet...
~ Capital Museum in Beijing, photo (c) Trey Ratcliff ~
where we can travel in style if we want to...these seats look comfy don't they,
but...
~ Hankyu velvet, photo (c) Sam Bowman ~
...not nearly as inviting as these velvet seats.
~ Rocks, Moss & Water, photo (c) Martin Cathrae ~
Watchers. They wear their velvet in summer...
~ Prairie Grass Bucks, photo (c) shadarington ~
and the groves, their velvet raincoats...
~ trees covered in velvet moss, photo (c) KWDesigns ~
...while here at home, repurposed velvet becomes a bit of architecture for my long cloth...
*****
What a gathering has happened over at Spirit Cloth!
'Contemporary Woven Boro'...a workshop who's meaning redefines itself each day...
over one hundred of us (imagine that)
*traveling companions* engaged in the common language of cloth:
weaving, stitching, experimenting, learning from one another...
jumping off...out...even when there appears (at first) to be no familiar net to catch us.
you said it all so well. great post. i, too, love that green velvet dress. i used to tell my mom that i was born in the wrong century.
ReplyDeleteYour beautifully textured weaving with its fringes like small branches, reaching out on the sides of the cloth, rooted in the mystery of a mossy glen, filled with transcendence and wonder...exquisite. Green, is for me, nature's supreme color and my favorite. From Cate Kerr, blogger at Beyond the Fields We Know: " If grace and gladness and wildness and life have a color, it is surely green..."
ReplyDeletea nice tactile and friendly long cloth, thanks for showing it. looks very "pattable",
ReplyDeletehugz, k.
What a 'delicious' post. I LOVE this green and the pictures that display it so richly. Your weaving is beautiful. P.S. I wouldn't have wanted to be Lady Mary Stanhope's feet!
ReplyDeleteWhat a superb post!I am so delightfully led through a selection of photos brilliantly culminating in your weaving - the colours, textures and synthesis read like a classic tale. Thankyou!!! Gilly
ReplyDeleteGreat photos, also love velvet and your weaving block is gorgeous!, love to be among all of you artistic women in Jude's class!!!
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderfully thoughtful post. I covet that dress too.
ReplyDeleteYummy photos, Christi. You're curating your blog! Fun. Amazing, that 100 people are in the boro class. Enjoy.
ReplyDeleteHi Christi: ohhhhh myyyyy, just beautiful - all the pic's then to culminate them with your woven cloth - WONDERFUL !!! love it very, very much, the colors are exquisite and loooks sooo soft and touchable : ) I didn't make it in time for "the class", it was tooo large already, but I am loving living vicariously thru all of everyone's postings and comments. isn't this stitch movement amazingly wonderful ??
ReplyDeleteBlessings, Sandra in AZ
I was gaga for your weaving when I saw it in class yesterday, but now that I see it as the culmination of all this amazing velvet inspiration, I am even more awed. Thanks for such a beautiful post.
ReplyDeleteLove your weaving of velvet and the weaving of this post...
ReplyDeleteWhen I was a young girl, I made a fort under a beautiful crabapple tree...and I collected patches of moss from everywhere to bring back to "carpet" the floor of my fort...it was very cozy and quite beautiful...my velvet carpet...thanks for reminding me...
I bought a fabulous green velvet frock coat this season. It's divine!
ReplyDeleteNice blog, so this is where you've been hiding.
ReplyDeletewords of the heavens, clouds and universe,
ReplyDeleteyour words certainly are.
true, exact. floaty.
Oh! Christi what a beautiful story you weave. I also love the green dress and I have a passion for moss.
ReplyDeleteYour blog is wonderful. Thank you for you visit to mine.
This is a feast- I loved your cloth in class, and so happy to see it here within this interpretive context. I can't wait to see more of your work.
ReplyDeleteSo you live in the San Juan islands... I have been to Friday Harbor and Lopez Island. I live on Camano Island. I love all your 'velvet" images here- all so beautiful.
ReplyDeleteDear friends, I am so late getting back here & I apologize for that...wanted to say thank you so much for taking your time to leave me messages & inspiration...I'm very appreciative. Since I'm still somewhat amazed that anyone chooses to read this blog it just tickles me no end when I put together a post like this, a little velvet-iness (my favorite fabric in the wholewideworld) and you guys chime in with your own swooning about it...WONDERFUL.
ReplyDeleteTo Capn ~ yes bro, tis here ;>}
To Pamela ~ MUST you rub it in?! that really is divine!!
To Sandra ~ YESSSSSSSS.
And to all my clothmates over at Jude's place ~ let us stitch on & on & on!
Such lusciousness over here. I love velvet! That subway car is so inviting, the moss, that dress! The drapes in in my bedroom are this very color of this green velvet. Hmmm. What would Miss Scarlet do.
ReplyDeleteI love your long cloth too!
I so love velvet too. What lovely perceptions you have, just amazing. And I truly love the weaving that you showed at the end for Jude's class. The colors and textures and design are just beautiful.
ReplyDelete