Embroidery

The beach is an endless source of inspiration for textures and colours. They are ephemeral, hypnotic as the marks left by the tide for less than a day. 

I can’t stop myself and take photos again and again of these sandy pictures.

Through them I can see a minuscule word, few square cm of art in the immensity of the beaches and dunes. But also a world by itself as it looks like the coastal line of Scotland with its sea lochs and its 800 islands. 

Every day I look at this world by my window, when I walk, when I travel throughout the island. The colours, the light and the textures are dancing before my eyes, it is a constant show for the eyes and for the heart. 

 Using the embroidery as a medium to capture my sensations and my emotions about this place I call home has been more and more obvious with the years. It has been like an explosion of happiness and joy to prepare my loom, to stretch the fabric, display the print and stab it with a needle and a thread., Every time I feel the thread going throughout the linen and the vibration with its contact, it becomes a mindful moment for me. Once, twice, and thousands of time.

And one day, the picture is achieved. I had no idea when and how it would be finished as I am freely piercing the fabric again and again until my heart tell me is it done. 

In July 2023 during the summer event of Open Studios Hebrides, I began something I haven’t yet gave it a name, but for sure it is entirely related to the Isle of Lewis. This piece if the first one of a series which I am committed to complete in 2024. 

Prepared and processed on my grand-mother's embroidery loom, the material themselves have their own history. The fabric is a 100 year old linen that I love to use in different project I have presented on the blog before. Sometimes I use this same fabric that I dye with plant I can find locally. Here 2 of them are printed with an identical linocut. 

As said previously I take a lot of photos. I reproduced and carved two of them on lino then print them with yellow, black and gold paint. Finally the last step was to embroider with very old threads offered to me a long time ago. They come from a haberdashery in France that was run by a couple at the beginning of the 20th century. 

As the fabrics, they have been offered to me as precious present by friends and family who know how much I love the old material and give them a new purpose. 

This embroidery has already a little sister and I am currently working on new pieces.