Amsterdam

 I was greeted by our prime minister (the previous one, now) on a giant television outside the airport

 I didn't see much of the city, only from afar, but I did see the old shipyard. got to know it a lot, walking up and down

 some rehearsing, a little music, telling, meeting people

 and a flag..Greece was on my mind a lot, since we are being turned inside out by political powergames

 a greek question mark in one of our singing bowls

 colours on walls. the grey sky seems relentless, just as I suppose our sun is to people coming from grey skied countries

 language learning outside the mens rest room. looks like broken english..I know its the other way round. And, Martine, do women need telling?

 bench floor patterns during nightime

swans in couples
saw a raven
and fat self satisfied seagulls
ducks, and black ones that I learnt were called coots


I didn't spend much time in Amsterdam, but I saw people, met some I'm glad to have met, hung out with members of the pack, told and listened to stories
a good trip
maybe another time I will see the city, and, who knows, a blogging friend or two....

mothers day

this was at my doorstep when I woke up. what it says is, of course, I love you mum.
reflections
layering waves
I'll vote for invisible baste anyday
layers of wind

this looks like the beginning of a cloth. I love hewn stones (as opposed to cut)
once more this looks like a prayer to me
striving towards the light

Iwas in the desert and I came back to snow. now the sun is out and spring is here. we had a pocket size winter!

the sun has taken its rightful place on the babycloth, along with beasties and beings.

now to get the pins out

return

she is my treelady, I think, summer evening



autumn beach in greeceWhitby beach
a moor artist
bits and pieces left behind on foreign beaches

I'm trying to return from gilgameshland

and all those summer travels

change and fluidity- need time to settle, all I do is clean in spurts and cook for little one

a time travelling machine, the resourceful dyer and some perks of life in Warsaw

this is a time travelling machine. an old coffeepot which used to brew my coffee many many years ago. Since before I had any children. it is the pot that taught me to drink the coffee I drink now. It has accompanied me on travels, making coffee anywhere, and what makes it a time travelling machine is
1. the unique taste of the coffee it makes-instant memories
2. it's blackened aspect. it wasn't always black, it became so on an island brewing coffee on an open fire of twigs. (1993)lighting that fire and making coffee there is one of my fondest memories. It gave off the smell of the twig fire for years afterwards, every time it was placed on a heat source, transferring me instantly to that island. Now I only have to look at it.
3. once, in 2002, we were snowed in the house which is now my home, electricity was cut off, the coffeepot became our hero once more by doing its thing on an open fire, in the fireplace..nothing like a cup of good, hot, strong coffee when you're snowed in with a 2 year old and a five year old and no heating......
a whole chapter of my life evolved with that coffee pot in its centre, jose has it because it always was his, but I'm pleased to meet it again and taste its coffee. But in small doses nowadays.
my son picked this piece of tree from the sidewalk and gave it to me. after looking at it and its beautiful galls for a couple of days I bundled it up in one of the cloths I have with me- one of my first bundling experiments, there are faint eucalyptus prints on it. I tied it all around a piece of copper I found lying on the sidewalk. I didn't want to compromise the family's cooking pots, so I put it in an asparagus jar with water and a lid and then did a bain marie- I let it simmer for a while, it got hot. when it cooled, I took it out of the water (there were a few drops of wine, dregs, dripped on the cloth before tying) and now it is staying moist in a plastic shopping bag. I'll let it dry and open it before I leave next week.
this is a textile I saw in an art gallery window.

there are many bears in warsaw. friendly bears.


I;ve wanted to make one of these ever since I saw the stars jude makes. I think I have seamitis- or is it a love affair?

a queens dress, from the museum of mankind. yes, it is full-body and all pieced. yes, it has been making appearances in my dreams

this is what became of the pieced cloth in my previous post.
many stitches have been stitched here in warsaw
and I've been catching up on sleep- the temperature is right

warsaw and prints

I am in Warsaw with the spaniards, that is my boys and their father. Eldest son is moving here to go to school. It is beautiful and sunny (for the time being, anyway) and the parks are stupendous'Sunday morning Chopin concert was fabulous.
this is what came out of a pot left for a week, I sneak peeked and opened it before leaving, and now it is going to stay here. I´ve torn and bundled all my white sheets and pillowcases, and they are simmering in the sun in pots and jars, bundled with metals and leaves. looks promising...


the cloth in the top photo was pieced and then cut into moebius strips and is slowly turning into a strip' what do you call it bias strip ? I'll show you when it's done