Once again I am saying ‘At last!’

It’s now finished, my piece created in response to Stephanie’s stimulating image.

On receiving an image I always start with just letting the image impact on me. In this case I saw a rainy day and the dark, wet, dull colours it creates. It took me back to South Africa when it rained and when on some occasions that took place on a Sunday and then the women would gather round and do handwork. Just to mention that I lived in an extended family home where we were six women but Sundays saw cousins and various family members coming together so the group could be quite large.

I wanted to represent that circle of women on a rainy day. But I couldn’t just have the blues and the darks and the wet, because there was also much warmth, and so I added some of the orange to the colour scheme. The result was more towards the orange than intended but I let it be.

I decided to hand stitch the whole piece taking on the energy of those round circle gatherings that took place in my youth. And this is the result.

Although it took me much longer than intended it has been a very interesting and captivating exercise. The intention was to have a flat piece but the more I stitched the more it flared at the edges. And so I went with it as if the unconscious needed to express the waviness of the water, or the fluidity of the dark and dull moments in life. And if anyone can explain to me why the fabric responded in that way I will be most interested in finding out.

And once again thank you all for your patience and for your warmth of response.

Ana