Ultimately, I've interpreted addiction as something I would struggle to live without and settled on Nature. Yes, I suppose I could live indoors, but, I derive so much comfort and joy from being out and seeing the natural world in motion. Whatever I'm doing, wandering through wetlands, hiking or beach combing, or frankly, just looking in my backyard, I am pulled along by the possibility that I might see or find something. It's always a great day when nature reveals itself and yet, almost immediately, I am looking for more. Second to seeking and finding things on my own, I love to see others' discoveries. My friend, Ed Perry, is an amazing wildlife photographer (check him out: https://www.face
Christmas is an important holiday in December. It is snowy and cold in the Northern Hemisphere, whereas it is hot summer weather in the Southern Hemisphere. The atmosphere of Christmas is completely different. It is incredible that things happened on Earth give people a wide range of experience and feelings. I have been thinking a lot about Christmas and its related things while sewing the work calmly. It gave me very strong feelings. Sometimes we take things for granted. We only know the existence of an incident, but the fact is that we rarely put ourselves in other people’s shoes. No matter what the differences are, if we human beings can embrace the environment with love and tolerance, it
We vacationed in Hawaii years ago and found a local coffee roaster that shipped their coffee to the mainland US. We happily signed up for monthly mailings to indulge our addiction to fine coffee. When this challenge was announced I was certain I would make something coffee related but wasn’t sure whether I would make a tree or berry or bean. I decided to depict beans since I love opening our monthly shipment and smelling the marvelous scent. Receiving the beans is something of a ritual, an event I look forward to. With our last shipment our postal carrier told my husband that he was suffering all day because he could smell our luscious coffee delivery but not taste it. I guess we’re not the
I thought I had this challenged nailed. Unthinkingly I charged into my studio, intellectually (or so I thought) describing to myself my addictions; let's see, there are trees, leaves, birds, mid-century modern style, all things about Australian Aboriginal art. It wasn't long before I had pieced the background and completely hand-quilted it. It was complex. It had texture. But there was something missing. (a quick pic was posted Dec 13) THEN, standing back, musing over my next steps as it hung on my design wall, it hit me! It was ALL wrong! These are passions....not addictions. There is a difference. I can live without real trees. I don't like to ,but, I have lived in places the do
My work is often done by repeating motifs. When I saw Sue's challenge, I remembered my works. I feel like I'm addicted when I work. These works lead to immersion. Repeated repetitions make me fall into the work.
It's all fun and games until someone loses their phone privileges. For this challenge, I'm using the idea of social media as an example of ADDICTION. Small alphabet beads create lines and text to form the story. Some of the words are the phrases and abbreviations we use in our everyday text communication. At first, it's just about entertainment; an amusing distraction from boredom, a way to bond with friends and find people with similar interests. Some of the words = NOVELTY, LOL, LIKE, SHARE, FOLLOW... Then I get pulled in further, using more frequently, the fun starts to fade into more of a compulsion. Obsessively CHECK CHECK CHECK for updates. REFRESH REFRESH REFRESH the screen.. Social
I chose the spiral image as the central theme for my response to the addiction challenge. When we are obsessed with something, we return to it again and again, caught in a whirlpool of endless need for gratification.
I said in my earlier blog post that my two long term addictions are Making and Politics. I have now reclassified Making as a passion. Politics for me is based on a deep-seated belief that society in general is not a just one, and that we can work to change it. In that respect it is also a passion. The aspects of my actions re-politics that are in the category of addictions are: reading the newspaper every day - nowadays in the apps in my mobile phone (even if I am abroad or on holidays); watching the television news every day, sometimes more than once; listening to radio news bulletins in-between classical music when I work. In this piece I tackle the controversial issue of TAX, which has be
87cm long x 46cm wide (34in x 18in) My happy addiction is my morning routine of drinking coffee. I need the daily caffeine hit, in my special cup, to feel good. I wrote quotes about coffee on the lightly coffee stained fabric before stamping and appliqueing. This is a whimsical, light hearted look at a drink I love. Materials: cotton, batting, threads, coffee grounds, fabric pens and paint, stamps, fusible web Techniques: coffee staining, hand writing, hand stamped, hand stitched, raw edge machine applique, machine quilted
Where does "addiction" take me - from Sue's definition: to devote my mind or myself to a pursuit? It would definitely be the ocean, the beach, beachcombing, sea beans, sea glass, sea birds, fish, oh, and what I would give to find a glass fishing float in the wild! It's interesting being the last one to respond to the prompt...especially this one. I can honestly say that at this point in the challenge - reveal one week away - I have gone through every response that my fellow V9er's have expressed. I have thought about the impact of addictions in my life, like Betty mentioned, and the countless virtues of coffee, like Lisa-Marie. Kate was spot on with Tech Brain, reminding me again, I want to
After a day of mulling the current challenge, addiction, I had an image in my head that I dove into. It included birds, leaves, trees backed by Australian Aboriginal art references. I finished the ground..which consisted of improv pieced Aboriginal fabric designs, along with the remainder of the eucalyptus leaf dyed cotton from an earlier challenge. The bird foot prints were done with one of my own stamps. Then NOTHING. Then five nights ago, in the middle of a dream, I had a vision. Birds, leaves, tree, even Aboriginal Art were PASSIONS, not ADDICTIONS. Yesterday I finished the top of my REAL addiction. It is ready to be quilted. Looking forward to our reveal day!!
This word got me thinking hard. I felt I had to look for a positive, life-long ‘addiction’. And I found two: MAKING – and POLITICS. I assume that all members of Viewpoints 9 are addicted to making. I remember making things from when I was about 4 years old – just sticking bits of fabric and other materials onto a piece of card to make up a picture. From age 7, I graduated to the sewing machine, and spent long hours designing and making dolls’ clothes. Throughout all phases of my life I made things, mostly in fabric and fiber – clothes, knitted things, dolls and toys. In the early 1980s I became a professional doll and teddy bear designer, maker, teacher and author. In the mid-1990s I change
Addiction is a very bad trigger word for me, due to the devastation it has caused in the lives of people I love. However, on a second reading of Sue's challenge, I see that we're supposed to find the brighter side of it- I have always said that my decision to be a full time artist was as much of a compulsion as anything else, so I'm going to come at it from that angle. New techniques are always energizing, so I got out my inks and brayers and spent a day monoprinting. It was a blast, I grabbed all kinds of fabrics and non wovens that were innocently lying around, and played with different colors and effects. Then I began chopping them up and....stay tuned for the next installment!
