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Usually,  one of the layers of cloth extends out from the story on the front.  Always there are three layers.  Whatever is the "story" on the front,  the  inner layer of harem cloth and then the cloth on the back., the other side where the map of the stitching remains.  This particular cloth,  being

WINTER

needed this very particular piece of fabric that was and is so much this Winter Sky.  And that it was a newer fabric,  so not worn or soft,  it so very well talked of that sky.   But also,  it's edges were harder than i am used to.   I'd thought off and on about putting it on a back of a softer cloth but that just wasn't it at all.  Better leave it to stand alone,  hard edged.   But waking this morning there was  "in place" a completely different thought.   And as i began trying to figure out how that could work,   things fell into place.   I have never made a "frame" for a cloth before.  All the edges now are   "finished",  not ragged and frayed so the whole Feel to it is different.  Half way through i took it all back off.  But then put it back on.    Because though it is very different,  it felt Right and i looked for a long time to try to understand Why it felt right.  And realized that tho there are components to Story here,  it is really a  Portrait.  It is a Portrait of this  Spirit of Plants in Winter.  It is a way  to see through Winter,  to see that still there,  within the cold,  within the Winter Sky,  the Spirit of things remain….active and very vital.   So…a portrait of that Ongoing  Living  Energy that is simply  ordinarily Unseen,  only  because it isn't Looked  For  during the Cold Times.  If you Look and  Call to it,  it is There.

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I was very absorbed in all this and Tay tried to be patient.

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I had been eating Fritos today and when i went out to do the Evening Feed,  and was Singing,  they wanted to smell my breath

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Yesterday it was 69 degrees.  Today 56.  Tomorrow it will be 39.  There may be Rain.  How it is here in Winter.  Some of Everything,  and not too much of Anything.  New Mexico.  Perfect.  By Monday it will be WARM again.    Every day now,  i will go Out and close my eyes and Imagine that Spirit Plant,  hovering,  watching over,  waiting,  Knowing.   I have an Image for it now.  It can Hold me well.

 

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22 responses to “how things go together”

  1. Marti Avatar
    Marti

    Yes it works, goes together because the framing cloth draws you in even deeper into the story of winter, plants and what cannot be seen but is known and it does so because the framing cloth has an energy of its own. The dark background, ground, the white markings, well I see bean seeds and grubs and it all flows in such a fine, organic way.

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  2. Michelle in NYC Avatar

    Framed somehow makes it ‘official’ and I love it. Ha ha with Tay’s patience….rolling and nudging and never taking her eye off you. I needn’t say how I love the close up goats…in your face goats. They DO look so fine in their wonderful Winter coats.

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  3. Tina Avatar
    Tina

    This is your first spirit cloth that I have seen from start to finish…..a wonderful story….and I too like it framed very much. Yes, a window…..looking in…I love what I see!! I see Tay loves what he sees as well…such comfort in those big eyes…loving eyes!

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  4. grace Avatar

    the strip on the left side is Face UP of that cloth and the other
    three sides are the Back of that cloth, so muted. Black and White
    always speaking of the Magic of Stuff, the Magic of what is Real,
    the Imaginal of it, to bring us to the Real

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  5. grace Avatar

    it does, doesn’t it…kind of make it Official…
    and Tay…no. she NEVER breaks eye contact. The Goats are very
    fine in their UnderCoats

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  6. grace Avatar

    Tina…this one has been different, this Cloth…and expresses
    the feeling of this time of Living…the Moment here. Different
    times, there are no edges, things flow into things..no edges. But here…the edge. And it speaks of that.
    and Tay…SHE is so Strong in being herself…finding her way
    of Asking things of me how she learns that i will respond…
    that Soft gnawing on my boot…just so CareFULLy while making her point

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  7. grace Avatar

    and also, i was given a “livestock” water float that was cut in
    half. It’s copper. I will email you. maybe you can use half of
    it? For dyeing? I will email.

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  8. Dana Avatar

    Mmm….Fritos…
    The background/frame cloth is an unusual choice for you, but I agree that it is a good one. I like the way you use the back and the front of it. Oddly, framing increases the sense of big sky for me. The idea of edges has caught hold of me lately, so here is another reference to Edge.

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  9. patriciaspangler47@gmail.com Avatar

    love it Grace. it’s just right for all the reasons expressed here. and i would only add one thing. the red tip of the pin. i know you will remove it, but i hope a red dot can be stitched there. for whatever reason, it seems to belong.

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  10. julie Avatar

    Dear Frito Breath…this is the first cloth I have ever seen you do with such a border, I really really love it, it feels encased in Winter. As do we all.

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  11. Tina Avatar
    Tina

    Oh how exciting….I just yesterday ordered books by India Flint from the library. Have been wanting to do more with natural dyes for some time now…so far have only worked with tea and spices. Oh yes….very EXCITING!!!!!

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  12. beth Avatar

    A way to see through winter… And all that is waiting there, resting. And here we are just about at the mid-point between solstice and equinox.
    I really like watching you listen to cloth. And coming here after looking at Patricia’s baskets… More listening to cloth. This is good.

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  13. Liz Avatar

    Your last picture of the rim and the winter sky … an echo speaking back to the cloth

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  14. Saskia Van Herwaarden Avatar

    the edge is just perfect for this piece!
    i love the images of the animals nudging at your legs: me, look at me, very much like django here

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  15. jude Avatar

    interesting to see you experimenting with edge.

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  16. grace Avatar

    i don’t think i would have if not for this Cloth. At first it being
    that the Winter Sky fabric was so stiff. it’s like sheeting…and
    not at all worn. Which worked very well for the Winter and the
    dye patterning could not have been more perfect, but then…there
    it was…and there was the Plant Spirit, the Bloom, and somehow something had to happen. or give it up. But i couldn’t give it up, so something had to happen and then, as i said, i woke looking for that odd fabric that makes me think of the Spade Foot Toad eggs but
    isn’t at all like the spade foot Toad eggs except in my mind but no
    matter…but the “directive” was to Try it…just Try it and a
    lot of ambivalence, and how that black and white thing that is Magic to me, the sign of magic of the Real, but the Real Unknowable,
    I finished it today…just now, really and it’s Good and Right, but i think i won’t do it again. Unless i am “asked” to.

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  17. grace Avatar

    the “framing”…i am glad you say that…increasing the sense of sky
    i am not sure it works that way for me, but it doesn’t matter…
    i needed to be there, so it will be what it Is

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  18. grace Avatar

    red. still thinking.

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  19. grace Avatar

    encased. this word helps. encased. Held. yes.
    love, Frito Breath

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  20. grace Avatar

    her baskets, yes. Like Cloth Breathing. yes. What is it Saying???

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  21. grace Avatar

    it IS the sky. yes. echo

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  22. grace Avatar

    that’s what they say with their eyes…yes….Look!, See Me

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