“If we don’t transform our pain, we will most assuredly transmit it ” Richard Rohr
So you may be wondering what has transforming pain got to do with “Just Making Art” well, at the moment I am engrossed in a book entitled The Treads of Life : A history of the World Through The Eye of Needle by Clare Hunter and in it the author describes the
(mostly untutored) textile work of various embroiders who used the skill of stitching cloth as a way of attempting alleviate and hopefully transform their pain. Its a beautifully written book and well worth reading.
I can understand this mode of self soothing .
Recently I’ve taken to stitching out my anxieties and find it really helps to use the hand eye coordination required.
Stitched up Selfie – Embroidered by Karen Billing 202
So here is where Just Making Art and you come in…….
Stitching Your Own Selfie
1. Take a selfie or find a photograph of yourself
2. Print or photo copy your self image in colour or black and white. A5 size or if you feel courageous go bigger
3. Reinforce you print by sticking (recommend double sided tape for sticking as you dont have the bubbles as with some glues) on to some thin card or thick paper (you need an needle to go through it without having to use force)
4. Using embroidery thread or dental floss or any thing in between stitch on top of your image. Be unafraid and let your fingers do the talking!
Even if you are not practiced in stitching you can do a small running stich ——- but why not spread your wings and do a google= embroidery stitches there is a whole new world of stitch variety out there.
Take your time there is no rush.
Why not send me a pic of your project and let me know how you found the process ?
I choose this selfie as an example a good one to stitch on .
Its taken a good while ago and I used a photo editing app (ToolWhizz) to make it look like it does but that’s not important.
I like this image because of the glasses which would translate well to stich being big and dramatic and I would keep the eyes as black and as lacking in detail as you see here to evoke a mood.
Happy stitiching!
Cheers for Now from Karen