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What is life? My partner and I used to say it whenever something truly ridiculous happened. After some rant about politics or some unaware person on the street, we'd respond with "What is life?" And it used to be a question. I did, at one point, want to know what life was and why it was so weird.
About a year ago, I started to embroider "What is Life" on things, first random scraps of fabric and then it turned into vintage napkins I had accumulated from relatives. And when I started to embroider, I never seemed to put a question mark at the end. No longer was this a question, but more of a declaration. As I say on my About page, the "what" is life. Maybe I should be asking "What is What?" Now that is a good question!
After awhile, the embroidery started to take on a life of its own; the font would change, the size, the thread, etc. I let the piece take me where it wanted to take me. And that is kind of how life is. I make some key decisions in the beginning, before starting to embroider, and then I let the needle move me. At times, friends and family would ask if I was ok. "What is life" is not a simple grouping of words, it is rather cumbersome on the brain. I usually sunk into this work when I was having some kind of existential crisis.
(Click on the below photos to see larger)
Anything to do with life is a loaded concept. That may have been why I was drawn to the vintage napkins and handkerchiefs; all objects that clearly have a past. From the outdated ornate qualities to the stains, each has lived a life already. I don't even know where they have been. Yes, they have come from relatives, but I have no clue how old they are or when they were last used. Thankfully my mom likes to save special things from our past and she must have had an inkling that they might come upon a second life in the future.
There is something to be said about these objects we collect, many of them older than we are. They have a ghost like quality, not only because of their weightlessness, but also in their signs of age and the wear and tear they take. I didn't want to disturb that past so I felt it necessary to keep a similar color palette, using thread that has the same coloring. I liked to imagine that "what is life" has been embroidered on these the whole time, bestowing this wisdom on the present.
There is also something to be said about the act of embroidering. Even though I am not asking "what is life?", I am still in seeker mode. The repetitive nature of the act of embroidering allows me to ponder as I work. They have traveled with me on planes, on buses and subways. I was listening to this podcast and one of the topics was about how repetitive acts are a form of therapy and allow are brain to find a different rhythm as they recover from trauma and uncover truths. Though I am not a traumatized person by any extreme, I am a sensitive soul and it is important for me to find that rhythm in order to process my thoughts. Otherwise, its full haywire up there in the head. This might be why I also love running. The receptive motion allows the body to process and heal. More on running in other post! If you want to listen to other topics on reframing your anxiety, depression and trauma, listen to the podcast to the left.
Though many ideas have unfolded from this work, the series is not finished. I have more to come. One larger piece is coming along. In the meantime, take a look at the below if you are unfamiliar with embroidery or specifically embroidering letters using my technique. There are a few steps to get the letters to really pop!
Supplies:
Fabric, embroidery hoop, needle, thread, wax
Prepare image or letters you want to embroider
Trace the image or letters lightly. If it is too hard to see, tape to a window and use as a makeshift lightbox
Sandwich the fabric inbetween the embrodiery hoops and tighten both the hoop and gently pull the fabric so it is taut
Split your embroidery thread so it is thinner
Gently pull the thread through some beeswax. This will help avoid terrible knots that will inevitably happen
Thread the needle and tie a knot at the end
Start to embroider along the outlines of the letters or image you traced
Before we can fill in the letters, we need to first outline them with an outline stitch
See back of fabric as I stitch
See front of fabric as I stitch
Outline stitch should look like this before fillign in the letter
See back of outline stitch
Being filling in the letter with stitches the width of the letter line
Continue until the whole leter is filled. This Kitty wanted in on this photo!
See back of stitch. It should looks almost the same as the front of the stitch. I always try to keep my embroidery as neat as possible without visible knots on the back of the fabric
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