Hello weekend!

This has been a strange week... but aren't they all?!

Instead of recapitulating my last painful handful of days, I'm going to pretend that they never happened, and will instead give you some pics of a canvas I'm working on. My energy for this blog has waned a bit, but I'll try to give it a little more energy. I've just been so busy, and without feedback, I feel as though I'm writing to myself (and as I've written on here before- this is NOT a diary, just a general overview of my life and interests for close friends and family).

OK, enough whining!

I had started a couple of painted canvases over the summer that I had wanted to embroider over, but had too much going on to complete them. Once the acrylic paint was dry, I rolled them up and put them in the corner. Recent happenings have helped me feel newly inspired...

It's a little over a month ago that Carlos died, and a week since Don died (Don was a great friend to great friends of mine, and from the handful of times I hung out with him, a fun-loving, all-around great guy). I've had death on the brain, for sure. Also, with the trees outside my window starting to turn a bright yellow, and with autumn's arrival, I just feel a little down. The days just seem to be going by so quickly...

Mind you, this canvas isn't close to being finished... and the pictures don't show the details as well as I had planned:




If you can't tell already, I'm embroidering three layers: red skulls (death); orange butterflies (transformation); and ginkgo leaves (preservation via memory). People take ginkgo to help preserve their memories- I think it's fascinating that these trees are the most prehistoric tree on the planet... memory and longevity seem to go hand in hand with this particular life-form.

When the piece is completed, I really mean for it to look like a giant piece of wallpaper. I want the form of the man (sitting in a similar way to Rodin's 'Thinker') to be largely hidden by the repeated symbols I will have embroidered. What I'm showing you are bits and pieces of the work- I think it will be quite cool when it's done.



Now, enough work for today... A good friend from high school is arriving in a couple of hours for dinner with the kid and I, and then the two of us are going out to hear some music in the city. Looking forward to it!

Have a great weekend!