funny how little figures are emerging from the cloth and the dye and my memories, from the morels to the outhouse to the old rusty tiller to the bloodsucking butterfly my ex-roomie created to patrol the property. and slowly each memory is becoming lighter, less wound-y, more happy.
**is anyone having trouble commenting? please email me, drucillapettibone@gmail.com. i've had a few people say they were, so i'm thinking of moving my blog over to my wordpress site. but i'm used to it here and wonder if i won't lose more discussion by moving than i'll gain with a better comment interface. what do you think?
a lovely cloth...like an ancient map.
ReplyDeleteooh, i hadn't thought of the ancient part deanna, i was thinking more of ghosts, but i guess that goes together perfectly! thanks so much :)
Deletethis is piercingly lovely, is that the right word? just...i don't have the right words. love.
ReplyDeleteaw cindy, this comment is piercingly kind and makes me so happy. love!
Deletewhat a beautiful, painterly surface you create with cloth!
ReplyDeletethank you laura! the eco-printed cloth really does have a painterly look to it! i missed you on the equinox, i'll see you next time!
DeleteHi Dru: love your cloth and story : ) I didn't leave a comment on your yesterday's post about your wonderful finding - how great you can just walk into a little store and find such "a find" ha : ) sooo cooooool !!!!
ReplyDeletesooo, I'll share my goood news with you, I will sooon be the owner of a brand new Fantasia spinning wheel by Kromski, I just ordered it TODAY : ) I am sooo excited, I can't stand it, hahaha : ) I toook a whole month (Feb) of classes on the wheel and loved every moment till I had to come home at the end of the class with no wheel to practice/play/learn on but that has now been rectified : ) sorrry, I can just ramble on when I'm excited : )
Hope this posts, I have had some problems on other blogs in leaving comments, we'll seee and if I do, I'll e-mail you.
Blessings, Sandra in AZ : )
sandra!! a Fantasia will be just so fabulous!! they are beautiful wheels, so unique, and so wonderful to spin on. huge congratulations - and i hope you show us and tell us more of your story!! xo
Deletethank you, thank you, thank you Dru : ) I am soooo happpy (see me smile : ) not just cause of my wheeel but my comment came thru even tho I am not "anonymous" haha : ) I will keep you posted in the coming months (lets hope its not YEARS ) about my progress !!!
ReplyDeleteBTW, thanks to your wonderful post a few weeks back, I purchased some beautiful, beautiful fibers from Lai Grai and she is just the best - thank you : )
Blessings, Sandra in AZ
oh i'm so glad... and laila is one of the very best people. i'm so glad to have connected you two!! bright blessings to you!
DeleteWow, this is breathtaking! And so inspiring. I adore the layers you're creating. I cannot wait to see what bubble to the surface of this fabric... what comes out of the mist of your memories, so to speak. Very exciting!
ReplyDeletethank you O - i'm curious too as to what will come up - it's such a meditative process. and thanks too for tweeting!
DeleteWow Dru...this is riveting. I feels like important work. I'm such a map person, but this one feels different, a life map. And what do you use to write/draw (the blue)? It reminded me of my daughters map she drew at three years old. Yours looks ancient (like Deanna said) and childlike at the same time, if that makes sense. Like very deep personal history. Oh now I'm just rambling trying to find the words I want. To me, and I may be wrong, it feels like those most important things to you, like the conversation at Grace's about things we love...perhaps the things you've chosen to stitch here are those deep memories.
ReplyDeleteOK, OK...I'll stop.
Here is my daughter's map if you want to see it:
http://pomegranatetrail.blogspot.com/2011/08/update-2-stitching-traditions-maps.html
Thank you for sharing this tonight.
nancy, you are totally right, this is a huge thing for me. among the hugest. thank you so much for seeing this and saying it. feeling witnessed seems very important too. <3
ReplyDeletethe blue pen is a clover embroidery pen that dissolves with water. there are other brands too and they usually have them at michael's, hancocks, etc. i am not as bold as jude with her pitt pens.
love this mapping of memories, the layering, the ghosting, have you read a Map of Glass by Jane Urquhart?
ReplyDeletePS Had an awful time writing replies to anyone with a Blogger account since Google made their changes on March 1st. I finally capitulated & made a google account, I can reply freely again & have not had the feeling of big brother watching my every move that I had feared ... but maybe I've just gotten used to it!
i feel you with the bit of paranoia... i feel like every few minutes some web application or other asks if i want it to show my locations. ummm, why? nevertheless i am glad you have a google account now! i haven't read that but am looking it up now - and thanks so much for that lovely link to CPE you left on grace's blog.
Deletelighter, less wound-y, happier.
ReplyDeletethese last few days of mine have been
swimming in a pond of little uhhh, well,
little unpretty things. they no longer bite.
and so, it's less wound-y. but is alas, not
happier. and i am working with how it is when
stuff does not get happier.
so i am glad for you. this is a very very
valuable work.....
and, why wordpress???? why not typepad if you
change?
oh grace, i hope they get happier. to me, lighter feels happier in this case. but i know what of you speak.
Deletei just started that CPE link that Mo left and am loving it.
only wordpress because i already have a wp site and it can import all my posts from here easily. and it is free. i am still hung up on that.
I really love this...so much story. I haven't had problems recently but their was a period I couldn't leave comments. Not sure what changed. I love the new look of your blog, but am having problems reading the text. But that's my eyesight. :)
ReplyDeletedeb, would larger text font make it better? or is it more the colour? thanks so much for letting me know!
DeleteLarger. :)
Deletei made the text a little bigger, let me know if it's better! any bigger looks HUGE to me. i'm glad you like the new look, it's always tempting to mess with it!
ReplyDeletei love this so much! and I am hoping my comment works.
ReplyDeletethank you serena and yay! it worked this time. so glad you are here.
Deleteam back again to look at your Map...i just love it and
ReplyDeleteam really itching to begin a few smaller cloths....
of "spaces", not personal, but uhhhh, topography.
again...love this cloth.......
typepad is like $8/month.
i am trying to decide whether this will go into my larger cloth, kind of like a map key. but for a while it'll be a small piece unto itself... i've been thinking a lot about your idea of whether objects love you back and i think they must.. it would explain a lot.
Deletei hope you do some topos! your drawing of yourself inspired me to do this.
Making memory manifest is healing. Your map is quite something, I can't say it's beautiful, even though it is. Just that words aren't quite adequate, it seems like you are expressing something deeper. xox
ReplyDeleteAnd great score on that wheel!
heather, i'd so love to know more about memory work in art therapy. is there a book or something? or could you write me a little novel here or via email? i know you know all about this, but it just isn't something i can understand rationally or verbally... it's all stitch and feeling.
Deletethanks for visiting, i miss your voice and think of you so often.
xxo
Yes, it is so anciently beautiful. When I was in Barbados a couple of years ago, I visited a home where there were ancient maps of England - because the couple were from England, and these maps were getting ruined by the dampness of the climate, so the couple was going to take them away, keep them under lock and key, and replace them with fake maps that they didn't care if they got ruined.
ReplyDeleteThis is a long story, but what I felt when I listened to the reasoning and looked at the beautiful ruin, was very mixed.
This piece is a beautiful ruin. It's so full of heart, my throat hurts.
Blessings.
xx
judy,
Deletethis is the kindest and most thoughtful blog comment i've ever received.
thank you!!
bright blessings,
drucilla
I love this cloth, it is a talking cloth really and it makes me smile while the tale develops.
ReplyDeletea talking cloth! i love that, because i had considered adding text and now i think i won't, but i still want it to tell the story... thanks <3
Delete