Chapter 11 - starting over

Chapter 11: Growth and Disintegration

9th March 2011

It's been so long since I posted anything on my blog that I've almost forgotten how to do it, but here goes. A new kitchen and major surgery for my husband sort of took up the last 6 months or more but now I've got back in harness and am enjoying my Distant Stitch work once again. Last time I more or less plunged into the middle of the chapter, so decided just to start over.

First I'll post the early rough samples, then the ideas for the considered sample in a separate post.

Disintegrating a square of paper

Disintegrating a square of fabric

(I'm afraid I was a bit careless with the glue here. It wasn't till I saw the photographs that I realised how the glue shines.)

Making a shape appear thinner

cutting a thinner shape

making the shape appear thinner with stitching

Making a shape appear less solid

Scraps of fabric and threads trapped between sheets of Bondaweb

Needlelace worked on top of bird shape

I love the different effects of making the shape appear to be less solid and would like to have a series of birds in my considered sample, with each bird being disintegrated in a different way. I like the idea of the birds being different sizes and not necessarily arranged in a regular grid. I like the conventional ideas of stitch and cutting away, but also intend to try some modern techniques, using dissolving and melting to distress the shapes. More of that later though.

Making a shape out of several smaller shapes