Melanie Testa

Whirlwinds

This should be Flash Card Friday, but it is not. I called a fun day. I went to my monthly appointment, my Man accompanied, very helpful-the lad. 

A memory of the day, not fully explained:

X-ray box, perforated paper, square head man face, front top quadrant of the page-drawn by David. Me: Flipped, vertebrae, ribs, hips, femurs; his pen, mine pencil. RN comes in to find, then….Very fast walk uptown, stopped at Merrimeko…dreamy…. Then to Mood to paw through and daydream effectively. Rich!

I am fixated on getting this Gather your Sew-plies (chatelaine pattern)  right. I felt buoyed by a comment to this post and started to think about this purse as Sewing Jewelry, personal adornment, how would an artist with my skill dress herself?  I began designing this small purse because I want to sew -on –the —-go, embroider wherever I am. Although I merely keep the essentials (Thread, Thread Heaven, Thimble, Scissors, needles), the bag is heavy and it moves around with momentum as I walk. Form isn’t meeting intended function.


A need arose.

 So it needs an anchor. But I want it to be removable, because, well, who doesn’t like a convertible thing? A toy, a puzzle, deeply stitched object. It’s satisfying. 

I think I am just addicted to cataloging, collecting, collating, and jotting. This is an image of an idea book. I think it is different than an art journal, it supports and documents. They help me remember.

A need, and response.

So I am creating a belt and loop scenario. I keep wondering about changing the texture of cloth by stitching it. I would like to explore this some.

I think the hand stencil needs to be embroidered on the purse, somewhere. That stencil has been asking to be used all week.

 

Anyone in the Dallas area going to the Great American Scrapbook Conference, I will be teaching surface design techniques for paper. Come join me?

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Comments

  1. It is important to have fun days. I think we don’t have enough of them or they get cancelled/cut short. Especially after a doctor’s appointment! You need to let your mind and emotions rest after listening and learning.
    I have been thinking about your chatelaine off and on for a while. I keep thinking about old movies and how either Leslie Caron or Audrey Hepburn had this drawstring purse that became an extension of her arm. It had short strings so that when she walked or stopped and picked up a bouquet or gestured with her hands, the purse was a part of that act, yet it didn’t appear to be in the way. An extension of herself. That’s what I think of when I think of creating an item to carry that part of me that is important that day. If I am going to the river – sketchbook, pencil, paints? or sit under the trees and stitch. I used to carry a backpack, but I tend to over load it and that is a no no. So, something small and versitile or a couple with different functions. The drawback to a drawstring bag is the digging around to find what you need. I will keep thinking and looking. We all need an adornment that is an extension of ourselves. 😉