"Within The Forest Of Threads"

Here are some new pieces which I am working on directly from my sketch book.
I still have many paintings of landscapes which are crying out to me to be stitched but I felt compelled to work with these new ideas.
I have been asked if I could run a few one hour workshops for Maderia threads at The Fashion, Embroidery, Stitch Show in March, when I get more details I will share them here.

Michala x

She Cried With The Trees

She Cried With The Trees, a photo by kayla coo on Flickr.

Painting on paper, developing my drawings.

Under The Blossom Tree

Under The Blossom Tree, a photo by kayla coo on Flickr.

Another textile piece I have been working on.
This will be exhibited at The Fashion, Embroidery, Stitch Show in March.

Faces In The Landscape

I'm not at all up to date with my blog compared to my face book and flickr pages which is why I have uploaded these images as a mosaic.
I have been using many different methods of recording and documenting ideas, these quick sketches, apart from one, have been on my ipad ( a wonderful Xmas present).
The figures have come about quite naturally, each one emotionally linked to the landscape.

When I was a child I lived in a small Warwickshire village surrounded by woods and fields.
I spent many hours playing in these surroundings, making dens, climbing trees and playing with all nature had to offer.
Not far from the local church, where I played, was a beautiful country track which was free from traffic as it led to open fields.
I will never forget the day when all the mature Elm trees which lined that hedgerow had been cut down, each one lying side by side in full leaf.
At first my friends and I played amongst those fallen branches, excited by the natural climbing frame, unaware of the impact to our local landscape.
A few days latter we returned to find no trees,  I remember to this day the devastation I felt at seeing the tree stumps.
 My vivid memories of this this time form the philosophy of the my art work, my feelings are linked to my landscape.
I will update my blog again very soon as I have more stitch work to share with you ( you can find more recent images on my face book page).
Bye for now.
Michala

New Year & New Work

This piece entitled "Snow on Snow" is inspired by the poem In The Bleak Mid Winter by Christina Rossetti.
I made many sketches after a walk in the snow over the fields near us, which then led to a painting.
The work above measuring 45cm x 63cm  has taken hours of stitching and includes many different threads with fibres.

In the bleak mid-winter
Frosty wind made moan,
Earth stood hard as iron,
Water like a stone;
Snow had fallen, snow on snow,
Snow on snow,
In the bleak mid-winter
Long ago.

I will be exhibiting this work at The Fashion Embroidery Stitch Show in March as part of my British Romantic Landscape display.
You can find more details about the event here http://www.ichf.co.uk/fashion/

My sketch book is filling up with new ideas and figures which are growing out of my landscapes, you can see more of these here http://www.flickr.com/photos/kaylacoo/

Best Wishes for The New Year!

Michala