tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3684977402503425005.post4785182563290742746..comments2024-03-23T00:56:46.743+05:30Comments on Stitch Journal: The Emerging State of RestlessnessGopika Nathhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05045583005627540260noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3684977402503425005.post-20904013769695223382013-10-13T15:42:13.658+05:302013-10-13T15:42:13.658+05:30Thank you Aina, I am so glad that you enjoyed the ...Thank you Aina, I am so glad that you enjoyed the essay and comment thread. Hope you will stop by and join the thread again.Gopika Nathhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05045583005627540260noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3684977402503425005.post-46133946668303384352013-10-13T12:25:22.260+05:302013-10-13T12:25:22.260+05:302 words......so beautiful.....the essays and the t...2 words......so beautiful.....the essays and the thread of comments that followed.....aianahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05870349121192107667noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3684977402503425005.post-77320948739334681252013-10-08T17:02:56.820+05:302013-10-08T17:02:56.820+05:30Yes, Kathryn I think that your observation is spot...Yes, Kathryn I think that your observation is spot on - they do look as if suspended and not stitched through the fabric. Its one of the reasons that I like doing Kantha on organza. Earlier I had done white on white but this time chose a shade of thread matching parts from the burned bits of muslin. <br /><br />The thing about photographing your work is that you can zoom in on areas and that is what I enjoy putting up here because I share just the parts that I have focussed upon while doing my embroidery or something that I find particularly interesting in the larger canvas. I love the details and these tend to get lost when you look at the whole. I like bringing attention to them and making them more than what they would appear in the final viewing. It possibly distorts the eventual viewing and expectations may get skewed but, it could also enhance the viewing/ appreciation too - because these details have been highlighted. What do you think? Perhaps we should discuss this aspect when you are here next and see the actual work, after all that has been said about it here. I think that would really be a useful exercise....thanks for stopping by and writing in.Gopika Nathhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05045583005627540260noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3684977402503425005.post-56660408244809201102013-10-08T16:52:46.619+05:302013-10-08T16:52:46.619+05:30I totally agree with you Elaine, sometimes it has ...I totally agree with you Elaine, sometimes it has to just be about play. We cannot always have something to say and in the process of playing things that emerge are often beyond the scope of what we ever imagine we would say. I think your Bunny piece is fun yet its also a lot more structured than what I am doing these days. Somehow the structure of something figurative when so much tumbles through my mind each day, is not a feasible option. I have added some couching to this. Yes, I have figured out how to do it finally. The learning of new stitches requires a lot of concentration and is fun to do. Like you said, play....Gopika Nathhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05045583005627540260noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3684977402503425005.post-14509045687694466442013-10-08T15:03:22.841+05:302013-10-08T15:03:22.841+05:30Dear Julia, my sincere condolences on the passing ...Dear Julia, my sincere condolences on the passing of your friend. There is something very cleansing about a funeral pyre. I remember my father's funeral many years ago and recollect feeling very calm after the event. It was also a very effective way of letting go knowing that the body has diminished into ashes. I had never thought of the burning of fabric in the same way, but reading your comment has made me consider that the thought does indeed extend to the burning of fabric which is also reduced to ashes. Everything returns to the earth or the universe and so do our feelings resound the ether waiting for that moment to be heard and this I believe is also true of souls, waiting to be born again to continue their journey through the world. The eternal design remains a mystery because there is a seeming futility to life unless you can find your purpose and align it with the higher purpose of life itself.....self-realisation as the masters have called it. You have led me into much deeper waters Julia, but thank you for this.Gopika Nathhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05045583005627540260noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3684977402503425005.post-39278077541622784392013-10-05T11:26:18.451+05:302013-10-05T11:26:18.451+05:30the color of the fabric somehow make the images al...the color of the fabric somehow make the images almost look like the threads are not stitched but suspended over empty space, and the scale also becomes interestingly ambiguous, particularly the last image, like a fragile labyrinth, these are really going on a journey!Kathryn Myersnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3684977402503425005.post-26392044968932285312013-10-04T19:14:11.440+05:302013-10-04T19:14:11.440+05:30Gopika, such a beautiful and thoughtful essay! I h...Gopika, such a beautiful and thoughtful essay! I happened upon it as I was figuring out which email to open next regarding my crazy family's issues. This helped me to stop, take a breath and most importantly slow down as I recalibrate on how to begin my day here among the beautiful colors of Fall in New England. As with you, I have my embroidery to make me slow down and realize that it's impossible to make sense of this crazy world. Sometimes I need to turn off the tv, radio, computer and become quiet as I stitch. The workshop that I took last Saturday was important because I just threw an idea out there to stitch - and it was the bunny! (how silly is that?!) I stopped fretting about having something important to say and to figure out how to say it in needle and thread. Sometimes it has to be about play and giving myself permission to play. I love the way your new image is evolving with the delicate burnt muslin and the sturdier canvas mesh stitched in my Fall colors!! I think you are excited about this one. Maybe it's the anxiety and the uncertainty about this piece but I think each time you secure these remnants with a stitch it informs the next stitch and so on. Elainehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12810415995737576822noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3684977402503425005.post-23618112311813578182013-10-04T15:40:32.854+05:302013-10-04T15:40:32.854+05:30Dear Gopika,
I have just returned from a crematori...Dear Gopika,<br />I have just returned from a crematorium, where we put a dear friend to flame, after she passed away at 6 am this morning. I just saw the flames of fire dancing on many funeral pyres. There is a smell that haunts the burning of flesh, or for that matter, organza. What is left, is ashes in one case, and design in the other. There is a design in the ashes too and countries are born out of them - dust into dust and into dust to return, again an earth is formed from these ashes and this dust. This is the eternal design.Julia Duttahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08846895945401962741noreply@blogger.com