My hands this book for Maurizio for his birthday, my second proper 'finished' book. I always feel as if there is more to do, more to say, more to discover. I also need to work on letting a few 'empty' spaces just be, still and breathing. spaces. space. [expanse, blank, zone, breadth, breath, headroom, turf, margin, infinity, gap, field, capacity, territory]
As always the process of putting together this little book was healing for me, even though the book was to give away and the intention was to keep the reciever in mind, in a healing and compassionate and fun way. I was quite surprised at what came out of this book. What it told me, I think , was exactly what I needed to hear.
At the moment, for me, it's about values, personal values [ethics, morals, consciounce, integrity, standards, ideals, sense of honour, beliefs, character, attitude]
The little bookwich seems to act as a mirror, it confirms my core values, and reminds me what is important for me. I like the way it has a playful childlike feel, but also a wise woman thread running through it. It feels grounding to me, with a tiny bit of rebelion, just to remind me to BE BADASS! Life is short!
It always amazes me when working with textiles and mixed media and 3d stuff, what pops its head out of my stash to be included in the thing being made. It's like it has a spirit before it is even born and then the bits and pieces reveal themself as it lives itself into being.
The Gruffalo ! a London Bus with 'silly billy' - an expression which was very much part of the daily lingo in South Africa when I was growing up. There is also a page for each of Maurizio's dogs: Flash and Black, and 'leggo': 'I read' in Italian, and 'read' in English, and on the last page one of my favourite italian words 'ninnananna' which means lullaby!
The process of making these books reminds me of my own process in life, where there often seems to be no actual 'page order', but rather read /make the end, then the semi middle then back to the back then the front and so on and so on. In the end it gets made and everything is ok, or ok enough
I became interested some time ago in some artists who draw with thread, for example Debbie Smyth,
I love the loose fluid way she draws and the bits of thread hanging off the image make it alive and full of air. I am just experimenting with the idea. This little page was made from a bit of fabric that I died with a strong brew of Tescos Finest Chocolate Tea!
The thing with me is that my first love has always has been painting, specifically oil painting with thick gloopy paint mixed with different mediums.
I love the immediacy of it and the way paint moves and how i feel almost as if the painting is making itself. But strangely, I havent painted for years, instead I keep discovering and experimenting in other different mediums, in a 'painterly way' so kind of tryinig to find that immediacy and chance and surprise that painting naturally excudes so freely, in other areas of making. It seems a contradition to find immediacy in the very time consuming process of hand stitching, but it is there.
In the slowness is the immediacy and likewise, in the immediacy of painting, there is the slowness, because of the layers upon layers upon layers.
Things are not always what they seem! Trust in the process and the Gods of creativity and goodness and do the work.
The Goddesses that I put into this book are:
"Saraswati, goddess of knowledge and the arts, embodies the wisdom of Devi. She is the river of consciousness that enlivens creation; she is the dawn-goddess whose rays dispel the darkness of ignorance. Without her there is only chaos and confusion. To realize her one must go beyond the pleasures of the senses and rejoice in the serenity of the spirit.
Saraswati wears neither jewels or paints herself with bright colors. The white sari she adorns reflects her essential purity, her rejection of all that is base and materialistic.
"Maat or Maʽat refers to the ancient Egyptian concepts of truth, balance, order, harmony, law, morality, and justice.
Maat was also the goddess who personified these concepts, and regulated
the stars, seasons, and the actions of mortals and the deities who had
brought order from chaos at the moment of creation."
In Roman mythology, Veritas, meaning truth, is the goddess of truth
Veritas is also the name given to the Roman virtue of truthfulness, which was considered one of the main virtues any good Roman should possess. The Greek goddess of truth is Aletheia (Ancient Greek: ἀλήθεια). The German philosopher Martin Heidegger argues that the truth represented by aletheia (which essentially means "unconcealment") is different from that represented by veritas, which is linked to a Roman understanding of rightness and finally to a Nietzschean sense of justice and a will to power.
And here is the book, in the opposite order, so first the open book then the back page and so on to the front,
