this morning was moist and warm out There,  Sun strong , like honey flowing.   it's the time of year when these things need to determine the course of the day.  i would have been wise to stay out early,  work on the tree hole,   dig and sink the cement block for the post in the Way Back,  poke around in the raised bed composting,  things like that.    but after feeding the Goats i came in.

 

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and spent over four hours STRAIGHT, non stop,   fooling with this small small face.   it's the original face,  the kind of odd one,  but it's The One and i did so many minute things.  it's smaller than a dry pinto bean.  too small, really, to work with…but if it were bigger,  the cloth would have needed to be bigger too.  i still don't know how to think ahead about these things when i begin.  so i am trying to do that with this Cloth.  Understand.  

 

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and during those four hours the weather became overcast and dreary,  soft rain off and on.   But i wanted to keep going so i invisible basted the crow and finished any stitching of the "Air".   by then my eyes were tired of trying to see in the grey light so i had to give it up but  kept thinking about faces and how they can tell so much of any story.   remembered that i'd put some in the little altar basket…got them out…

 

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remember, you can double click to enlarge

 

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looking,  thinking how all these are faces that "weren't right" when i was was working on a cloth,  but what if i just looked at them,  listen for the story they might be "right" for????  so i got interested in that.

 

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decided to just make some faces…no story in mind.  just faces…for no reason except to explore them.  these two were drawn then "scratched" with a stiff paint brush, cut blunt and short,  dipped in turpentine.  the turpentine causing the ink to bleed some,  in some places,  disappear entirely.

 

 

 

 

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31 responses to “story in eyes, the angle of gaze”

  1. dee Avatar

    ah the power of doodling! I’ve been sewing circles of blue onto white… for no reason other than I like them. I double clicked and LOVED seeing the community of faces. I wonder what they might be saying, not just to you, but to each other.

    Like

  2. Marti Avatar
    Marti

    Staring at the faces, one face in particular, I know but couldn’t understand how I knew her. She is in the third photo, above the twig and I think it is her again in the fourth photo, the face on top of the twig. Those eyes…she looks like my maternal Spanish grandmother Teresa, a woman who died long before I came into the world. A curandera in her village, strong woman. The only photo I remember seeing of her, she is seated, dressed in a long dark dress (photo is black and white), high top boots, gray hair pulled back in a bun, I’m sure when unpinned it probably reached her waist. She is looking straight at the camera, her eyes must have mesmerized the photographer, the eyes of this woman here.

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  3. grace Forrest Avatar

    letting attention go as it will…”for no reason other than I
    like [it]”
    i don’t know. What might they say?

    Like

  4. grace Forrest Avatar

    her hair, unpinned, reaching her waist

    Like

  5. Sandi Avatar
    Sandi

    loving your blue man in the moon! The others are quite fascinating and I know, when ready, they will share their stories.

    Like

  6. grace Forrest Avatar

    what a face, he has…yes. and most likely i will never
    use it/him….my moons have no faces, but yes…here he
    is, the blue moon man….maybe he is for you?

    Like

  7. Sandi Avatar
    Sandi

    Maybe….. He is one handsome moon! What does he think? If he needs a home, I would be honored! ❤

    Like

  8. grace Avatar

    you can see…in his kind of shy but willing look….
    he’s on a very soft piece of cloth
    email me…and he’s on his way.

    Like

  9. Sandi Avatar
    Sandi

    Thank You so much! He will be honored in some creative fashion. I want to look into his eyes and listen…… ❤

    Like

  10. Jan Avatar
    Jan

    I love how you just let them come. . .and participate in story later. . .whenever. they are witnesses in a way, to the process. participants. xx

    Like

  11. grace Avatar

    he will like that…he’s that kind of Moon guy

    Like

  12. grace Avatar

    they have for the most part just waited quietly in the
    altar basket. the new “stack” of them now there too…
    this is really interesting to me… and, it’s its way, a
    surprise

    Like

  13. Valerianna Avatar

    Love the wind in hair… and all the faces. I often draw faces in my writing journal. I have no idea why, but I do it a lot.

    Like

  14. grace Avatar

    in its way, a surprise

    Like

  15. Dana Avatar

    The addition of the flowing, crazy hair to the little face really synchronizes the figure with the flight of the crow. It brings the whole cloth into focus for me. The crowd of faces is very arresting. Isn’t it interesting how multiples magnify meaning?

    Like

  16. Michelle in NYC Avatar

    Nothing like a surprise on a Friday with Saturday just ahead. Nice how each face belongs to itself, and yet they seem too like they belong together. I like paradox–well balanced paradox. I LOVE that the blue ribbon of air is under crows wing. So Nice. Nite nite at 1:45 AM :->

    Like

  17. jude Avatar

    i’ve a basket of faces here, like ghosts of days past.

    Like

  18. julie Avatar
    julie

    yes, all the faces, together. A herd.

    Like

  19. dee Avatar

    well what they say would be different for everyone, and different for me, depending on hour of day.
    They might be whispering that it’s time to go see the birds, or asking each other if they have a body or will they get wings? Who are your allies? When will you hang or descend or connect or meet thread? What are your vigils for? Can you keep a secret? Will your mourn your life when you pass or celebrate? Who will mourn you? Does that red thread have a place yet? Is it for me, or for you? What if one of the goats gets her lips around my cheeks? Am I digestible? Compostible? Who is Grace and why is she looking at us? What is next for those hands, our creators?
    could go on for an hour….

    Like

  20. beth Avatar

    Just a few lines but such different expressions. Personalities. If I were to draw a face it would likely look a bit like a smiley face. 🙂

    Like

  21. Mo Crow Avatar

    you really “get” faces Grace!
    & you’re stitching is so fine

    Like

  22. grace Avatar

    i love how so little can create a face

    Like

  23. grace Avatar

    “multiples magnify meaning?”….am looking at that still…
    yes…and what exactly IS that?????

    Like

  24. grace Avatar

    hope you slept well….xoxo

    Like

  25. grace Avatar

    or alive…
    the days past are Yours, the images just are.
    baskets of faces

    Like

  26. grace Avatar

    herd
    group of Sames

    Like

  27. grace Avatar

    i love your sequence here
    and yes…could go on for a very very long time

    Like

  28. grace Avatar

    well, you COULD change that

    Like

  29. grace Avatar

    have always loved faces
    thank you…stitching…it still leaves me wanting better

    Like

  30. Kathy dorfer Avatar
    Kathy dorfer

    I love all the faces together … Lots of thoughts come just by looking at them .

    Like

  31. grace Avatar

    maybe it’s just how We Are???????
    just Us. or kinds of Us….
    ????????????????????????????????????????????????

    Like

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