stitches and paper and paint, oh my!

another of the techniques we learned at anne brodersen's wonderful weekend course involved small embroideries and bits of torn handmade paper that we painted with watercolors. we tore up a 5x7 piece of rice paper and assembled the little bits on a sheet of scrap paper.

then we painted them with watercolors, in colors we thought either matched our small embroideries or (if you were me) colors we liked. i had no idea what my embroideries would look like, as i had to rush home and make some that evening while watching downton abbey (episode 2, season 3, so shh on what's going to happen).

yup, another shot of those fetching watercolors. what is it about them? they're so photogenic.

the next day, our little bits of tissue-like paper were dry and we could begin to assemble them into a collage. i stitched up some small fantasy animals based on helleristning (it was either that or feathers).

we laid out the little stitchings and our bits of paper into a pleasing pattern and then pinned them to the handmade paper base underneath. the next step was to stitch them all in place. it was a bit challenging not to get all tangled up and poked by pins at first, but it got easier as you could remove pins on the bits that were sewn down.

tho' anne recommended using a fine thread, i chose this variegated thread that was a bit thicker because the colors were perfect with the colors that i had painted on my bits of paper.

i like the confetti-like quality it gave in the end, tho' i'm not entirely convinced it matches my little paleoglyph animals. they are a bit frolicsome, so i'm choosing to view it as a good first attempt. everyone i show these to likes this one best (my own favorite is the one with husband). it has a very cheery, bright, happy quality that i think accurately reflected how i felt at the course.

this is what elizabeth made - you can see that her single-thread stitches (from a neat old spool of variegated blue thread that i picked up in an antique store in the states last summer and gave to her) have quite a different feel. her sweet little circle stitchings tell a story of the barriers we have around us as people and of a family. but i'll let her tell you that story herself (she hasn't told it yet, but do keep checking her blog, as i'm sure she will).

our other fellow-student created this bright, springy, eastery piece. it also has a bright, cheery quality that i think reflected how we all felt at the course - happy and open and bursting with color and creativity. it was such a wonderful environment, working with a patient and good teacher in her light, inviting, inspiring atelier.

and this last piece shows how anne herself has used the technique. she's more sparing with the stitches attaching the paper bits. and i am very inspired by her teeny tiny embroideries. i'll definitely be pursuing this technique as a way of incorporating some embroidery onto my torso.

it was such a wonderful, inspiring weekend and i'm not done telling you about it yet, so stay tuned for more. in fact, it made me so happy that the troglodyte's latest dictatorial outpourings just rolled right off me. proving that having good energy yourself can go a long way towards deflecting any bad energy you come across. it's just a matter of filling up the tank.