Rain, Rain and More Rain

I am travelling on the train with my wellie boots.

A visit necessitated that these accompanied me today. I don’t see other travellers with their wellies despite the rain and flooding of recent days.

I met someone yesterday, at my dance class, who is experiencing the flood waters first-hand. The roads are flooded and the water has nowhere to go. It is turning back on itself. My garden is underwater. It is awful. She told me.

Do flowers drown? What happens to the boughs of the trees once submerged.

Our garden tools become redundant.

The cat can’t go out.

Our feet cannot touch the ground as they should.

The water leaves its own style of “mark-making”. It uses dirty water. It gushes, slides and seeps into our everyday world. It is uncontrollable, smelly and contaminated.

It is unstable and invasive.

There is not much to like about flood water, it can change the environment in which we live very quickly.

Genesis 8:9 – But the dove could find nowhere to perch because there was water over all the surfaces of the earth.

2023 – My Weekly Project

Week 26 – Flowers in a Jam Jar

I love simplicity. We live in a world where everything is so complex and multi-layered now. As though the “bigger the better” is the order of the day.

For my birthday recently a close friend turned up on my doorstep with a small jam jar with some flowers in it. Flowers from her own garden – it was so delightful and was placed in the centre of my dining table.

Inspired by a Gift

The flowers remained on the table for around 10 days before I had to discard them. The plastic bag containing the water, still had water in it. The jam jar was small but it provided me with the opportunity to use this as one of my creative projects this year.

From the garden I sourced some plant life. The plastic bag was reusable, but it needed some fresh water. The rubber band was still OK.

Step 1 – put water into the plastic bag – not too much

Step 2 – put the rubber band around the top of the bag

Step 3 – put the plastic bag into the jam jar – carefully

Step 4 – release the rubber band slightly to allow some stretch to put the stems of the plant life into the water

Step 5 – Arrange

Step 6 – Give this to someone or just enjoy it in your own home.

A Simple Display

A small display of flowers like this uses less water. There is no spillage as the water is securely held in the plastic bag. The rubber band also acts as a support for the stems. And you can be wonderfully seasonal without taking too much from the garden. A great way to bring a little of the outside indoors – even more important now as the season begins to change and the days grow shorter and darker.

2023 – My Weekly Project

Week 25 – Don’t throw it away!

De-cluttering is good for us. But it has to be done in the right way. Just like you, I too have a collection of “things” that might come in handy one day. So whilst sorting out I came across a mirror. My first thought was to take it to the household waste and recycling centre. Then I had a better idea.

I had recently given my studio a coat of timber treatment in preparation for the winter months and I had an insect box in need of a new location. So I paired up the mirror with the insect box on the studio wall facing the garden.

A Reflected View

The mirror has been in situ for a month or so now and I have enjoyed catching glimpses of the garden reflected back from it. In an odd way it made me engage more fully with the ever changing scene of the garden in a different way.

Last week an opportunity arose to obtain some more mirrors – unwanted and with nowhere to go. So I brought them home and with a helping hand from my husband they too have been added to this side of the exterior wall of my studio.

Alfie, the cat enjoyed helping us too.

Snippets of the Garden

The mirrors have given me altered views of a garden I know so well. By moving myself around the mirrors the reflected view is constantly changing. I am so pleased with this and now I would like a blackboard to go in the vacant space on the left-hand side. Unless something else comes along looking for a new home in the meantime!

Re-Using Something in a Different Space

Not throwing away that first mirror has given me so much in return for a very small amount of time and effort. And a few mirror plates of course. So next time you are thinking about discarding something just take a moment to think about where else it could live. So much to gain from one little idea.

2023 – My Weekly Project

Week 24 – A Textile Wreath

I have accumulated so many pieces of “useful” fabric over the years. Many of which are packed away as I cannot bring myself to throw them away. Often they are small pieces.

Earlier in the year I did an experiment to make a textile wreath. I sourced the double ringed frames used by florists. I selected 4 different types of fabric and began the process of cutting them to length and attaching them to the frame. And this is what I made:

Improved Learning and Technique

The wreath making gave me the confidence to lead a workshop recently in Helston. I prepared lots of lengths of fabric and enabled others to mix the colours and textures.

Reviewing the making process afterwards for myself I decided to have another go using some lovely fabric I had been given and for which I could not find a use.

Again I selected four fabrics and cut them into strips of 1.25″ (3cm) width. The strips were then cut into lengths of 6.5″ (16cm) and then the ends were finished with either a diagonal or pointed finish. The lengths were tied with either a double or single knot depending on the thickness of the fabric onto the wire frame. I worked around the frame using colour 1, colour 2, colour 3 and then colour 4. This was repeated throughout the frame.

A Happy Joyful Wreath

I have enjoyed making this wreath. I put together colours and fabrics that I would not usually pick up. But when put together they have created something which makes me feel happy. Not just visually but also because these fabrics have not been wasted.

It is time consuming. But look at what I have created. Once piece of advice I would give is to keep the pieces of fabric close together on the frame. Once tied on and tightly packed they will not come off.

I put a length of fabric onto the outer edge to form a “hanging hook” and now this will take pride of place in my studio. I am probably going to make another one as a Christmas gift, but one which can be displayed and enjoyed all year round by someone.