Rampion

In the tale of Rapunzel, the allure of the root plant, Rampion was impossible to resist. It was ultimately this temptation that led to the ill fate for baby Rapunzel.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, the idea of home has been at the forefront of my mind for quite awhile.  So when I heard the story of Rapunzel being retold on NPR several months ago, I could not help but have a new perspective on the tale. Rampion, otherwise known as a root vegetable, was the source of desire. We can all identify with this...roots and in its more basic form, shelter, is a fundamental source of human need.

With this piece, Rampion, my series into the home has begun. I have so many different ideas and alternate ways of looking at this topic that I can't wait to begin.  However, life imitates art imitates life.  The next piece might take a little longer...We are moving into a new home, one that we plan to stay in for a very long time. Our own roots are being planted and we will watch them grow!

Home

What does Home mean to you? Is it a white picket fence with a perfectly manicured lawn, a status symbol of accomplishing all of your goals? Do you think of the home as a symbol of security, domesticity, family?  Or is it an essential form of shelter? For the past two years I have become preoccupied with these ideas.

And this is how my work comes to life. It all started with a trip to Washington DC during the coldest night of the year. I saw so many homeless makeshift beds over the sidewalk vents.  It was not a new sight but for some reason on that particular night, I was haunted by the image of these beds across the backdrop of the DC capital skyline.  That skyline which represents power, money and prestige grossly contrasted against a living visual of  poverty.

Flash forward to my own personal life in the past two years.  I went from living a comfortable independent life in my own home to happily moving in with my fiancé. Despite the joyous reason for my home upheaval, there was a lot of adjustments to work through. I'm a creature of habit and love to be settled- not to mention have all of my sewing supplies in their place and out of a moving box!

Now happily settled into my new home, more exciting changes are on the horizon- a wedding, once again a new home to move into, and more decorating!

While all of these changes are wonderful, the haunting image of  the disparity of my own selfish complaints of home versus the need for home as a source of survival has spurred a series on the home. My first piece is nearly finished as I gather research and thoughts for the next few. I look forward to working through some of my feelings as I explore the various implications that Home represents.

 

 

 

Too Many Choices

Sometimes, when digging through my stash of threads there are just so many choices!  It makes it hard to make a decision. But yet, every time I go into a quilt or craft store I'm so tempted by the beautiful colors of embroidery floss that it's hard to resist not adding to my collection! Truly, for the projects at hand, the colors that I need are already within my reach.

 

In life as in stitching, sometimes what you think you need is something you already have. We can spend our time adding to our stash or we can use what is already there. We can make the simplest of decisions become the most difficult tasks. We can stop searching for the answer and instead, let our intuition guide us.  The thread choice after all is only part of the larger piece of art.