6/13/2016

bead sketches : month five

12

Bead sketching in May was like wrestling a dragon.
But then, most everything in May felt like a wrestling match.
Here, all of nature seems to "wake up" at this time of year ... spring  positively explodes ...
and most afternoons I find myself wondering just how I'm going to fit in a nap between 
all the items on my long list of tasks.
Bone weary might be an apt description.

Those are the moments when the strong commitment I made to this project
becomes its own guiding force,  nudging (sometimes shoving) me to the beading table
while the other half of me feels like she should be outside accomplishing x, y, or z instead.


From assembling the base, gathering the materials, stitching layers of cloth,
solving how-to-attach-objects issues, then onto the bead embroidery itself,
each sketch requires between 6 - 8 hours to complete.
This is a relatively small amount of time in a week, all things considered.
But I've realized that if I didn't place value on the process of doing this project
- if I hadn't vowed to myself to show up and do the work no matter what -
I would be allowing a million other things to pull me away.
Excuses are easy.


So here is May.  Duly wrestled.

~ Local skies were lit with dancing lights early in the month so I wondered if I
could illustrate my own perception of them with some over-the-top bead stacks ~

~ Circles of friends; how imperfect they are with their loose threads .... 
how simply they can unravel without care & attention ~ 

~ What happens to the tons of used clothing we as consumers donate or "recycle"?  Much of it 
 makes a voyage overseas ... the somewhat disturbing afterlife of American clothes ~

~ From my collection of purposeless vintage keys (keys with unknown or missing locks),
not suited for much now except for illustrating idioms like this perhaps ~

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To view all of the  52 weeks : bead sketches  posts, starting with the most recent,

12 comments:

  1. This is a perfect example of how a challenge can become a chore can become second nature and compelling.

    You captured the light show perfectly. Your thought on friendship and your illustration of it is spot on. Could not be more perfect! And OMGosh I was surprised to learn that you also collect keys...I have so many and always wonder what I will do with them. A wind chime I thought, but will they tangle up in the wind..perhaps I'll make time to find out some day.

    I had read a similar story about Goodwill sending clothes over seas and that they also sell those that cannot be saved for rags.

    Your mind is always racing along!!
    xx, Carol

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    1. HA, you've made me chuckle! That may be a polite description of what my mind gets up to ...
      but then,
      you've been watching me a long time and probably know well ;>)
      Now, about those keys - perhaps you could make a less tangley type of chime construction by "stacking" the keys snuggly up a line? That way there would be little to none of the tie line exposed. Am thinking of one made from spoons in such a manner. And wouldn't the keys look fabulous aging out in the weather!?

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  2. How lovely these little trinkets are!! I love each and everyone of them!

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    1. Much appreciated, Penny. The menagerie is growing (as is your troop over at your place, I see!)

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  3. I really like that each piece has a little story...the link to 'afterlife of American clothes' just amazed me. Each piece is beautiful or interesting or thought provoking....thank you for sharing. Hope June is an easier month for you.

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    1. June hass already settled into a calmer mode ... thanks for the kind words, Jenny. May you be enjoying the season wherever you are, too ;>)

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  4. All that wrestling worked in your favor...each one a beauty. The keys are perfect as well as the dancing lights. Mavericks for the other two...free and fun!

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    1. You just brought a big smile to my face, Mary Anne. It's sometimes a challenge to keep going in the face of .... well, of any negativity really ... so I'm pleased if it seems I got past it/through it/around it somehow. Many thanks.

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  5. Showing up to do the work is so central... glad you have continued to wrestle such beauty into being.

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    1. Building some stick-to-it muscles, maybe ... gonna be a good thing ;>))
      Thanks, Mary. I sure enjoy watching how you show up for all your lovely textile & plant work!

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