Monday 18 June 2012

Obsessions of a natural kind..........

Linen....
I am sure I am not alone in my obsessive collecting of antique and vintage textiles that may (or may not!) be incorporated into my work.  Linen, lace, buttons, threads and yarns seem to find their way into my possession without me realising it.  Friends give me lots of things, charity shops are searched, flea markets perused on a regular basis to feed my obsession.   As a student for four years, I did not spend a lot of money.  People are very kind and if an exquisite piece of lace or fabric is damaged or torn it can be purchased for a very reasonable price.  I only use natural fabrics and yarns such as linen, silk and cotton in my work.  Linen has to be my all time favourite.  I love to print, dye, hand embroider, embellish, and wear it.  There is nothing like the feel of it, I just love the way its beauty increases with age.  Here is a beautiful old french postal sack .....



 showing its age beautifully, worn and darned


now living on the bottom rung of a bamboo ladder in my sitting room


the top half of the ladder


small corsages, dyed and frayed, embellished with crochet pansies made from old linen

Seaweed.....
I live five minutes away from the coast, I often beachcomb and pick up some incredible organic pieces with fascinating structures and textures.  Here is a piece of dried seaweed which is now on a shelf in my garden.....

knarled and twisted

a tangled web of organic shapes

Physalis....
Sometimes you find something so breathtakingly fragile and beautiful it takes your breath away.
I was tidying my front garden when I came across two physalis skeletons.  I used to have a plant but lost it a few years ago.  I do love these little lanterns, they dry beautifully and keep their hot-orange colour.  A mystery then how two came to rest under my laurel shrub.

a tiny individual hydrangea petal accompanies the lanterns


a delicate filigree structure


has this been spun in gold?

More of my obsessions to come.... the list is endless.   Hope the weather is kind to you and the sun continues to shine. 

p.s. In a charity shop today I bought a bag of doilleys, tablecloths and a lovely darned very tatty linen embroidered sheet, tell you about them next time, they are soaking as we speak.

p.p.s. linen postal sack courtesy of Julie from The Cloth Shed, thanks Julie!

Jayne x









6 comments:

  1. Look Jayne, there's me trying to tamp down my artistic leanings, when what do you go and do? You show some lovely pictures of faded fabrics, interesting finds'n'stuff and with me on the point of going to bed, get me fired up again. And there was me just thinking of looking for the crochet pattern for the poodle loo roll holder.

    LLX

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  2. Lovely post Jayne...your photographs of the Chinese lanterns are exquisite, all those little veins are amazing.
    Great postal sack too...
    Julie x

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  3. your obsessed woman !! haha....what beautiful photos and the bag of linens sounds very interesting, what will they become.....???

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  4. Fabulous post. You are just so inspirational. Beautiful photos. Can't wait to see your latest purchase and what you will do with it.

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  5. Beautiful images, natural linen is my favourite to work with too. (thanks again for your lovely comment) Christine xxx

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  6. What a lovely post to read Jayne, gorgeous linen and croched corsage. Beautiful image of your chinese lantern, i found one once trapped amongst the foliage in my garden, yes they are a real delight to find and behold.

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Thank you for your lovely comments, I really do appreciate them.