At this busy time, hand stitching can provide a meditative practice. I am currently working on a piece that is inspired by memories of my grandmother. As I stitch “Peel”, I think of her peeling fruits and potatoes with me by her side. The piece gradually takes shape as I layer sheer silk organza and add hand stitching. Here it is in process.
On Christmas day 2022 a pipe froze flooding our newly remodeled condominium, leaving us homeless. I was devastated. Yet one week later on New Year’s Day as I walked along Church Street in historic Beaufort, South Carolina I came upon an old brick wall. It was alive with moss, lichen and tiny ferns, one brick so different from the next. I decided to make a fabric brick wall. I discovered some wooden jewelry/treasure boxes on line that were the size of bricks. I then covered the boxes in batting and hand dyed and painted fabrics. Embellishing each brick was fun using nylon netting, Tyvek, wool roving, cheesecloth with lots of stitching with embroidery floss. I then played with arranging the bricks to form the wall.
A combination of recovering from an overwhelming schedule and living in the isolation of the pandemic has caused a shift in my impulse to make -- my conceptual underpinnings and the imagery I employ reflect my current sense of absence and presence. Missing from my days is a consistent active engagement with others; present in my days is an increased awareness of my immediate environment. The continuity in my practice is my love of working with repurposed fabrics, needles, and thread. My interest in using traditional techniques in a new ways also endures.
In my ongoing project Fond Memories of Good Company textiles once used in my dining room and kitchen bearing the marks of food preparation and consumption are deconstructed then reconstructed into a patchwork ‘tablecloth’ which is then embroidered with outlines of tableware. Infill stitches surround forks, spoons, and plates in a variety of styles evoke a possible record documenting the countless numbers of meals prepared and served.
Hopefully, as we manage CoVid infections, we will return to shared meals with good company! Merill Comeau
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| In process: Fond Memories of Good Company by Merill Comeau |
