Wednesday, April 06, 2016

inner horizon

Again and again I pull this piece into my lap.
She's un-finished.

When I get close to finishing her, something makes me re-think and un-do and today I mended her again.  Those slices I made last August opened her into a female figure
but she's no princess.
She's been through a lot.
She's been generous with her time.
Listening and holding me thorugh a winter of doubt,
a spring of uncertainty and travel,
and a summer of family.
I like to say that I approach my work as if I have all the time in the world, but the truth is, I don't.
This moon is waning.
I worked the stitches from the back, the distortions and un-planned marks guided me.

This is me.
This old moon.
My surface smoothed out and easy, hiding that inner turmoil on the inside.
Not very well.

This old emotional moon.
Patched and stitched with circles.
Why do I keep coming back to blue circles?

It's not just me - we all do.
We all go back to where we started eventually.
That is who we really are.

When I draw a circle quickly on paper, I start it at 12 noon and go counter clockwise.  I go against time when I rush like that.  But when I stitch circles, I can go either way.  Stitching is a slower way of marking a circle and it encourages stepping not running.  Breathing in a considered manner.
In order.  Kind of.
She is just as interesting on either side.
When I worked on paper, I never worried about what the back of my painting looked like.
It didn't seem important.
But when I stitch into cloth, there are two affected sides.
I noticed this first when I made the quilts and the backs became as important and beautiful as the fronts.
There are two sides of everything.
All things contain their opposites.

Works in cloth are full of metaphors.
I love that.
The deer made their small heart marks in the snow just before I went out for my walk.
They didn't think about it.
I love that too.

23 comments:

Tina said...

Judy,

I really love the cloth and the words, but especially the two sided cloth. I, too, love both sides of my work.

Ms. said...

This post is like spending time with you.
I really appreciate that. The tidbits of thought, that we come back to where we were,
going counter clockwise first then getting slower with stitch.
Metaphor, and deer hoofs...the traces we make as we pass.

Karen @ Pieces of Contentment said...

Much more than just stitches on cloth. Beautiful.

Sue Marrazzo Fine Art said...

THIS is so Special!

Margaret Cooter said...

Your words resonate, especially at the moment. Your work resonates, thank you.

sandypoa05 said...

Hello from South Brazil.
Your work is amazing, congratulations. And your words go so well with it.

Velma Bolyard said...

our moons, beautiful though they are, are indeed waning, stitched through and through.

Jennifer said...

Simply exquisite. Thank you so very much for sharing these thoughts and your work.

Roxanne said...

Oh, Judy, the work is like fresh baked bread, but the words are honey. Poetry, really, the kind I transcribe into my journal, so that the words become part of me. There is such bounty here!

Morna Crites-Moore said...

Circles, and crosses, and blue ... oh my! xo

Mo Crow said...

stitching the music of the spheres into "the blue of longing" (Rebecca Solnit "A Field Guide to Getting Lost")

Els said...

LOVE your waning moons .....

(yes, that's what we think : all the time of the world
.... and we all know : we have not ... 70 soon ...)

Sue McQ said...

Judy...I never thought about it until you mentioned it above: when I draw a circle, I too, go in a counter clockwise direction. Hmmmmm....
Your work is beautiful and thought provoking.
Blessings,
Sue

Liz A said...

Inspiration found at your hand yet again ... thank you

Patricia said...

I shall reflect on this post for a good while. Love your work--and the thoughts of your heart. Thank you.

Joe Madl said...

these thoughts. words. dew drops sprung from your being. lay gently upon the brow of my heart. enticing contemplation. seeking room in the home of my soul. offer sustenance in return. and like the deer, leave heart prints upon my mind without thinking about it.

namaste'

Caterina Giglio said...

and I love your words and work... sigh ... so beautiful...

Dana said...

This one really touches a communal nerve, I think. Your beautiful and much worked cloth will always hold the echo of you.

Helen Percy Lystra said...

I don't remember which site I was visiting that got me to your blog but I am in love with your work.

Montse Llamas said...

Your circles look like the moon landscape.

Heather said...

Your work is such an affirmation of the power of cloth and stitch. I have a question: When there are two obvious aspects to a work (in this case the front and the back, or the dominant and the less articulate), is there also something happening in-between? The ineffable, the numinous, a relationship? I have my own guesses, but I am curious as to what you think.

Velma Bolyard said...

i came back and reread this this morning. i'm glad i did. you know.

Judy Martin said...

Heather, I have been thinking about your question as I continue to stitch on this cloth.
There is the front and there is the back -the stitches go right through to both sides and it gets confused - but they go through cloth. the cloth is what is in-between - the essence of it all. The un nameable self. The indefinable immensity within.

It's all I'm interested in right now. How can I make it evident and keep it secret at the same time?
x