razor-sharp smile...

Two little salmon sharks swimming into the shop today. One is already reserved, but the one above is right here. I used a cotton for the undersides this time, naturally dyed by me with a slight mottled appearance. And I got my hands on some white leather so they have "real" teeth this time. Ragged, ferocious fellows, used to the hard life in the North Pacific Ocean.

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We have had some low low tides in the middle of the day this weekend, perfect for beach combing and tide pool exploring. Yesterday AK and I took Ty for a long meander to check out ochre stars, wee crabs and more, all under the watchful eyes of a large crew of eagles also taking advantage of the low tide pickings. The sun has stuck around today, so in a couple hours I think the pup and I will go out again to a slightly different spot and see what we can find. My hopes are on some moon snails...

Hope you're having a great weekend!

summer whale...

The summer weather continues around here, day after day of beautiful sun and warmth. It feels like July. While rain clouds are threatening to creep in just time for the weekend (hey, I love rain, no complaints) this delightful weather has inspired a summery grey whale in pale oceany blues.  He's in the shop now.

Here's a little behind the scenes from the photoshoot; it's good to have helpers. :)

small update...

My apologies for not posting much recently. Honestly, I guess I haven't had much to say. This too will just be a short post to let you know there are two new beasts in the shop - another green sea turtle and a new take on a giant pacific octopus - this one is covered in logwood dyed cotton gauze, overlaid with hundreds of stitches for added texture. I love to make the octopuses, but they are a lot of work when stitched entirely by hand (all those legs!).

I'm hoping to get a whale or two done this week, so if you have been waiting on them keep an eye out next weekend!

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Heading up this afternoon to take in one more snow day as the mountain season finishes. A friend and I are going snowshoeing, and give Ty is first taste of the white stuff. Then we'll watch crazy people in costume ski into a frigid pool for the annual "slush cup". Brrrr, but enjoyable to watch! Here's hoping you've had a wonderful weekend!

the bright brothers...

Because I could use a little colour today. Another day without the sun making an appearance, and possibly not even rising above the horizon, or so it seemed. It has felt dismally dark, and I think there's a drizzle going on out there. Honestly I haven't felt like venturing out, particularly.

But back to the point of this post - a pair of green sea turtles! A pair of fraternal twins, or maybe just brothers. Stitched in large part from vibrant linens from the lovely Carol at Yorktown Road, along with a few other pieces I had. One is a lime green, while the other more of a chartreuse. Both of them are pretty cute, I think. Entirely hand stitched, with all the individuality (and hopefully individual personality) that might imply. They will be available in the shop shortly.

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Also a little notice that the shop will be put on vacation starting Friday, February 8th until the 20th. We are taking a little holiday, to a tropical place where I've got all my toes and fingers crossed that I might actually see a real sea turtle. And while I love all seasons here on the coast, I am also looking forward to a good dose of regular sunshine. So if you were eyeing any items that you would like before then, please purchase this week.

Hope you are all having a wonderful weekend, hopefully with more daylight than we seem to have today.

new turtle...

A little variation on the green sea turtle took shape this week. Some fabrics came out of the dye pot in wonderful olive tones (my apologies, I've completely forgotten what the dye bath was made from!) and an Olive Ridley turtle seemed completely appropriate. This little fellow is entirely hand stitched, and all fabrics (cottons, linen, silk) used are natural dyed by me. Feels like a 'complete' sort of piece, when I think of how much my own two hands put into this turtle. If you like the feel of it too, he will be in the shop later today.

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>>>some thoughts on making...
I have talked a lot recently about getting back to making pieces for the shop more regularly, producing more, and more often. But I've come to realize that may not necessarily happen, and as there have been some recent inquiries I thought you deserved a little bit of an explanation.

Please understand first off that I very much appreciate all you folks who are interested in my work, whether you purchase something or just share your words of encouragement. It is very rewarding to make something with your own hands that others respond to so positively. But.

When I first got into selling things online, I quickly got into a rhythm of working all day at my job and then coming home and sewing much of the evenings and weekends. After a time, I was pretty intent on keeping interest on my making, and started to feel guilty if I wasn't stitching in my free time, or stitching or crafting on something personal rather than for the shop. I am a pretty slow maker, so I was trying to make up for that by making any chance I got. It probably doesn't help that I have pretty heavily ingrained beliefs that I always need to be "productive" and should also be doing something "useful". But we won't get into the psychology behind that for just now. Anyway, then came the forced respite of my broken wrist last year. I tried to get back into it once I healed, but a number of events and distractions kept me from ever getting back to my old pace again. Moving in the fall, and the subsequent disorganization / re-organization of my craft materials (and my life) made it easy to let days slip by without picking up a needle. I let go of the 'guilt', letting this break become a new sort of rhythm that eased my sore fingers and tired back.

I don't handle stress well. Not at all. I read something recently about people with my particular date of birth (and yes, please give such generalizations a healthy bucketful of salt) - that we often reach a place in our careers where we are comfortable, and make no further attempts to progress or be challenged, because don't want to deal with the potential stress. That definitely struck a chord with me, and might be at least partially true. And whether I should just buck up and learn how to handle a bit more stress, there is no denying that it doesn't suit me particularly well. Stress affects me mentally and physically (and there is no denying two jobs and a side hobby that all require lots of sitting and repetitive motion are not good for the body). My previous making habits were just not sustainable. So I've come to accept that free time can be a good thing, and sometimes a very necessary thing. Time to go for a long walk, time to escape for a weekend, time to just spend with friends and family. And yes, even time to occasionally just do nothing.

For now anyway, I have decided I can only do what I can do. Pieces will continue to trickle into the shop, and while I appreciate your interest I have decided to not accept custom orders for at least the next little while. Your interest in my work is very heartwarming to me, so thank you for sticking around even if I am not the most productive of makers. Wishing you a very happy weekend and I see the sun is making a lazy attempt to peer through the grey clouds. Time to get out for a walk, I think.

snow bird...

All this talk about birds, and I thought perhaps it was time to stitch a new one up. I have been thinking about ptarmigans for awhile, and their snowy winter plumage appeals to the starkness and neutral palette I often appreciate at this time of year. This white tailed ptarmigan came together slowly, as most things seem to do these days, but I'm quite pleased with the results. It is entirely hand stitched in linen and quilting cotton that has the faintest botanical print, with fabric wrapped wire feet for an appropriately fluffy appearance.

I have only seen a real white-tailed ptarmigan, this smallest of the grouse family, once. A bewildered little white creature hunkered down in the snow in the middle of a ski hill as boarders and skiers raced around it, most none the wiser. It was barely visible but for its dark eyes and beak, a perfectly camouflaged animal for winters on rugged alpine peaks.

This little bird has flown into the shop.

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I am so enamoured by the Avett Brothers lately. This song especially is a favourite.

salmon wolf...

It's that time of year when the salmon are leaving the ocean to swim upstream in west coast rivers and spawn, finishing their life cycle and starting new ones at the same time. The bears (grizzly and black) come to the river banks to feast on the fish, stuffing themselves before hibernation time. Other animals flock to the salmon as well - eagles and ravens and small scavengers eager to get their share. Yet on the central coast of British Columbia, another large land predator emerges from the towering trees to do a little fishing alongside the bears. The grey wolves of the coast (who are even grizzly bear eaters when they want to be), are also after this rich source of protein, chasing the floundering salmon through the shallows while clumsily attempting to snap their jaws shut on a tasty meal. It's all part of the salmon cycle of the west coast, where these fish nourish all levels of the ecosystem, including the trees themselves.

This piece came together slowly, amidst the bustle of moving, but also because every single stitch on it was done by hand. Most of my pieces are extensively hand stitched, but often at least a part of them are done on the machine. My love of handwork continues to grow though, so I may be doing this more often. This small grey wolf and his sockeye salmon meal (in flushed spawning colours) are stitched up all in linen, one of my favourite materials. He is a friendly sort of wolf, but you will definitely need to win his trust before he might share that tasty fish. If you're interested in trying, they are available here.

It's a canine sort of the place in the shop right now - did you know there is also a red fox and a coyote in there? But if you're waiting for whales (or other ocean creatures), I think I'm just about ready to get back to those too. The shop has been a bit sorely neglected recently, but I hope to get back to it now that we're moved, so there can be lots of pieces available if you are doing your holiday gift shopping. There should also be more natural dye fabric packs by the weekend.

Hope you're having a great week so far!

ETA - a little wolf music for you.

fish hunter...

Amidst the woodland creatures and mushrooms taking shape these days, a beast of a completely different sort popped up. This past week was shark week, and with my growing obsession with wildlife and nature shows, I've been enjoying a lot of shark action these past few days. I thought a shark from my own hands was in order. Somehow, the TV schedule programmers again seem to know what I'm working on (see octopus, as yesterday while finishing up the stitches on this little fellow, I stumbled upon a show about salmon sharks gorging themselves in Prince William Sound in Alaska. The water was full of these ragged looking beasts breaching clear of the water as they lunge for unsuspecting fish. An apex predator getting in on the salmon before they leave the ocean, much like salmon-eating 'resident' orca populations. This could turn into a tangent about how many creatures and ecosystems are dependent on salmon and their importance on the coast, but we'll focus on the shark for now.

This little salmon shark is stitched from a worn pair of blue jeans, and an underside of white silk. As I watched that shark program yesterday I noted how ragged those salmon sharks were, and thought this one could use some boro-stye patches. He is a small little shark, only 8.5 inches long, which is considerably smaller than the two sharks i made for my nephews, and this one has real gills too. While he's focused on tasty fresh salmon, I wouldn't totally take my eye off him either. He is in the shop.

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I'm a bit reluctant to have her go anywhere, but the red fox vixen is in the shop now too.

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The weather has settled in a bit grayer and cooler today, and I think I'll get back to stitching mushrooms... Wishing you a happy Sunday.

on the river...

Yesterday, late morning, a merry band of woodland creatures took to the forest trail, intent on a little photoshoot amongst the moss and towering firs. Walking the winding paths, gravel and dirt crunching underfoot, the rush of water and the slightly metallic smell of the river wafted through the trees. Before long I found myself wading through the shallows to let a few of these creatures survey the river from their very own rocky perch. I mentioned the other day about the relationship between forest and river and here in this spot it is especially clear, one flowing into the other in more ways than one.

The newest beast around these parts is a little coyote, a scrappy fellow still getting used the island (like the fox there are no actual coyotes on this island). He is not sure about these warm summer days of August, already decked out for fall in donegal tweed and scraps of a wool sweater. But he likes to go stalking through the dry grass in search of small prey, or as here, keeping an eye for fish in the river. He was joined at the water by the little beaver, who was much more interested in chewing on some juicy logs (I had to draw the line at actual swimming though), and little raccoon who likes to wash his food before he eats it.

As mentioned, the shop is slowly having a woodland invasion. There is the raccoon, and a trio of edible mushrooms. Later today I will be adding an amanita muscaria, and we'll see what else gets in there. The days are swirling by so quickly, don't you find? Much like the river these days - not in a full flood, pausing in a gentle pool here and there, but heading with determination downstream all the same.

Happy Sunday folks.

collector collaboration

this set of forest creatures is a collaboration between Abby Glassenberg and i. both are stitched from hand dyed brown wool and vintage flour sack. the owl measures 6.5" tall, and the deer 16". these are one of a kind creatures and a collector's set made by two artists. you can read more details about this set here.

this collector's set is available for $120 plus shipping. if you would like to bring these pieces home, you can buy them right here:

the ocean set of a rock crab by me and fish by Abby is available over on Abby's blog. they are constructed from cottons and linens hand dyed by me with madder (plus a few accent fabrics).

i love how the pieces for each set are complimentary, but each reflect our own style of construction. it was really neat to see another maker's style and sewing techniques.

thanks so much for following along on our collaboration!

oyster in the shell...

i have a tendency to overlook the oysters when i'm wandering the beach. those ubiquitous ragged white shells, either whole living creatures or discarded husks, dot the shoreline in many places at low tide, to a point that for me they sometimes blend into the background as i search for other treasures. due to their generally stationary lifestyle, they are often covered with barnacles and other marine life, nestled in the muddier spots. and yet, they are a big part of the coast. like other filter feeders, they help keep the water clean. the native species have been eaten by the first nations of the coast for probably as long as either have been here. introduced species have taken over in many places as commercial farming of them has increased, good or bad as that may be. and i certainly enjoy a fresh shucked oyster breaded and dropped in a sizzling pan. It seemed about time to give them their due.

this oyster is completely hand stitched from layers of creamy linen and silk. while live oysters on the beach tend to be shut up tight against the air, this one is cracked open to show you the (somewhat simplified) meat inside. although pearls are rare in oysters of the coast, i have found a small, irregular bead now and again and added one here. and of course there are a few barnacles dotting its shell. :)

if you appreciate oysters like i am learning to do, this one can be found in the shop.

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also in the shop, i am now offering green sea turtles and leatherback turtles as made to order items. i hope to do this soon with some other pieces, as i hope this will make it easier rather than wondering when i might make a certain creature again. i will offer the custom creatures as long as i have the materials to recreate similar pieces to ones i have done before (in some cases these materials are quite limited). and please know that as always, i do accept custom orders if there is a specific beast that you would like to see recreated in textiles but have not seen me make yet. i love a challenge!

fraternal twins...shop update

just a quick hello this morning to let you know that these two humpback whales swam into the shop this morning. fraternal twins, one with a wonderful blue/grey/gold dotted cotton belly, and the other with a grey/blue linen. i need to start keeping my eyes open for real humpbacks, back in these waters for the summer.

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i also got some good mail yesterday - Abby's deer! i'll be starting work on my companion piece very shortly, and will be sure to share all the details with you guys.

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one more thing - my sketchbook is coming to Vancouver next week! i am so sad i won't be able to see it because it is mid-week and i can't get away, but if you do go and happen to spot my book, please let me know. i'd love to know how it looks with all the other sketchbooks.

happy tuesday!

roly poly...

i have been reading about sea otters a bit lately, but mostly it has not been a happy story. i am reading the last great sea, which is a fascinating book, but talks a fair bit about the colonization of the coast and the ruthless hunt for sea otters for their thick fur coats. these poor little creatures were hunted nearly to extinction, in the times when similar efforts were made on many whale species along the northwest coast and elsewhere around the world. thankfully though, there does seem to be a happier future unfolding. sea otters are making a resurgence, in a few pockets along the coast between Alaska and California. i think these days sea otters are more known for their playful demeanor, rolling in and out of kelp beds and tumbling with their friends, than for the warm fur coat that could be made into a coat for humans.

this little fellow isn't made from fur, rather stitched up in some linens and a soft poly blend. he's a quiet sort, settling in for a float on his back and starfish snack. but he'll watch you with those gentle eyes, and perhaps offer a bit of his meal. sea otters are good friends. he can be found here.


soon enough i think i might need to make him a river otter companion. it's funny how similar and yet different those two animals are. river otters are so numerous along the coast, on the outside waters venturing far from shore, or on the inner coast swimming island to island, but also comfortable on shore, docks and anywhere there is some good exploring to be done. sea otters would prefer to stay in the water nearly all the time, their flipper-like back feet making them awkward on land. yet they usually stay close to shore and in shallow water, tucked into the kelp beds where there is lots of food to be found. two little creatures who have found their own niches on the wild west coast.


wishing you an good start to your week, and May, soon enough. wow, are we that far along already?

spring migration...

each spring, the grey whales begin their long migration from their birthing grounds (seas?) in Baja, and head north to the nutrient-rich waters of Alaska for the summer, passing by my island as they go. mama whales travel with their not-so-little little whales in tow. i have been lucky enough to see the whales travelling north a few times (and some stay well into the summer), although i have not seen any yet this year. but when you can't see the real thing, might as well make your own! except i just get to enjoy these two for a little while. this grey whale mama and baby set were a custom order for someone who recently visited Baja and saw the whales up close. a magical experience, i bet.

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i'm not sure if i mentioned before (i know i have been exclaiming over on fb), but i recently caught the three part series ocean giants on pbs. serendipitous, really, as i wasn't keeping track of when the episodes were on but somehow managed to turn on the tv right around when each episode was showing (over several weeks). so cool to see all the different whales and dolphins, and what amazing creatures they truly are. i highly recommend checking the series out - you can watch all three episodes online. in fact, i might watch a bit of them myself, as i settle into some work this afternoon.

back again tomorrow with some more spring flower photos taken in the forest this morning. it is a gorgeous day and the light in the woods was beautiful. and on monday i'll be sharing a little collaboration i'm starting that i hope you'll be as excited about as i am!

evolution of the whale...

there are slight tweaks that take place every time i make a new version of a beast i have made before, whether refining design or trying new ideas. the humpback whale is definitely the creature i have made the most times, although i just realized i haven't made one since november. time to try something new. this one has several bigger changes - i think i'm liking the evolution.

he can be found here.

sometimes you gotta just run with it...

sea turtle pre-occupation continues. in this case sometimes an idea just comes to you, and you have to go with it, for better or worse. i hope this one was for the better.

i was thinking about other types of sea turtles on the coast, and kept coming back to the curious-looking leatherback turtle. in a fit of inspiration, i remembered a very well-loved handbag my mother had finally let go of, passing it on to me to see if i could do anything with the leather. it seemed to me it was the perfect material with which to construct a leatherback's carapace, not to mention in the perfect inky blue shade (leatherbacks range from grey to dark blue to black). not to mention the back side of the leather was a splotchy grey/blue, which worked well for the turtles belly. 's i couldn't help but set to work right away, other projects and to-do piles forgotten (sorry!).

he has a slightly dark countenance from the green sea turtle, perhaps because of his colour but also there is a look to his face. i like it though - i hope you do too? still i think he seems to have a pretty congenial personality on the whole. he is ready to plunge into the ocean-y depths with his hydrodynamic ridged back. i hope he appreciates it - my hand is still protesting a bit from sewing that leather! this turtle is now looking for a new home

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but back to the to-do list. thanks to those of you keeping me busy! and really to all of you who stop by this space to visit - i do appreciate it. some other life changes might be happening around here, but it's too early to say anything about any of them (ETA - just so we're all clear, I am not having a baby or anything like that). here's hoping your week is going well!

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also, please stop over at sew delicious for a little interview with me today. thanks Roslyn!

honu...

i spent most of my life assuming there were no sea turtles along the bc coast. sea turtles were for tropical seas, and i had hoped to see one when i went to oahu a few years ago, to no luck. but here? it just never occurred to me, and i certainly didn't know of anyone who had ever seen one in these eastern north pacific waters. they are rarely mentioned in reference books of the coast. but recently i have started seeing sad stories about sea turtles found on the beach this past year, poor fellows washed ashore who even when care is provided have not pulled through. this could be a cycle of ocean currents, further signs of global warming, or just a curious coincidence of these amazing creatures finding an unfortunate end. you can make your own determinations about what you think is happening, but nonetheless my awareness has been raised about sea turtles in our coastal waters, and not just those in distress that make the news. there are several species that might be found off the coast all the way up to alaska, including the green sea turtle.

with the precariousness of coastal turtles in my mind, but also their beauty and grace as they swim through the sea, i crafted this little green turtle out of linens. the underside is all a pale green linen that i solar dyed last summer; i thought the gently mottled fabric would be good for his uneven skin tone. and i couldn't resist adding a few patches to his shell, a bit of bright green amongst all the others that make him a very spring-thinking fellow. his sturdy flippers are ready to guide him through the sea with powerful strokes, exploring the far corners of the ocean. would you like to swim along with him?

shop update / home

home again today. thankfully we have power on here, but it's still out at work, along with many other homes. my job revolves around the computer and printer, so there's nothing i can do if there's no juice coming down the line. it's a bit of a pain, as there is work to do, and i am taking friday off to go away this weekend, so i certainly don't need more days off to whittle down my paycheque, but there's not much to be done when mother nature has her way. i will make the best of today that i can.

the octopus above is in the shop this morning. i finally made another one, and somehow they always come out a bit surly. not sure if that is the general disposition of octopuses, but the ones i make seem to take on that expression. i like him anyway, even if he seems to be giving me the stink eye looking over his curling arms. he has a wonderful patchwork of mottled hand dyed linen covering his head, reds and burgundies and a hint of pink and orange here and there.

joining the octopus is a set of three by-the-wind sailors, or velella velella jellyfish. i wrote about these vibrant little creatures over a year ago, and in my current invertebrate kick i had to make more for the shop. they are quirky, adrift on the high seas at the mercy of the winds and currents, their stiff little 'sail' catching the breeze, but i find them quite fascinating the more i read about them. maybe soon i will make one of their larger but equally electric blue cousins, the man o' war. there are so many fascinating jellyfish, the sea nettle may have just been the tip of the iceberg. but a similar statement could be made about most of the amazing creatures that ply the deep blue depths, not to mention on shore, and in the air. well, at least i'll never run out of critters to make!

it sounds like it may blow again today, and tomorrow. a storm force kind of week. hope you're staying warm wherever you are.

sea nettle

months ago, i stitched up the bell of this jellyfish with some layers of natural dyed silk and gauze, and then it sat. it wasn't that i didn't like it, i just couldn't quite wrap my head around how the rest of this sea nettle would go. i puzzled over it a little, a mental picture tickling at the edge of my brain but not quite fully formed. it was easier at the time to focus on some other creatures, things that were capturing my attention with an end product in mind, a complete picture. the bell waited.

but something about spring has brought jellies to the front of my mind. lately on beach walks i have noticed little moon jellies and water jellies washed up on the sand, clear little gelatinous circles helpless ashore. it must just be a certain cycle, as late in the summer we often see large lion's mane jellyfish doing the same thing. and i've been thinking about invertebrates in general too (there is another octopus in progress). so this week i decided to play around with the bell again, using some tea-dyed jersey. and lo and behold, a sea nettle was born.

this jellyfish will be in the shop on saturday. i'm kind of enamoured with it, so there may be more soon (perhaps one of the above mentioned lion's manes?)

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currently loving this new song from the shins.

whales on sunday...

i had big plans to line up all the whales for a group shot at the beach today. they all seemed quite jovial on this sunny sunday, and i thought they'd be happy to play along and pose together. the wind, however, had other ideas. even with A as my whale wrangler, we had troubles getting shots of just one whale at a time, as large gusts kept spiralling in and trying to send these swimmers flying back to the sea. the northwest wind was boss of the show, and also responsible for the beautiful blue skies, but we did manage to do a little photoshoot with all of the new whales. they are available in the shop now, eight whales in total: two narwhals, two belugas, two greys and two right whales.

i think i could have spent much of the afternoon at the beach, but i had promised some folks i would get back and update the shop early on. still we took a short walk along the sand and it was gorgeous, even as the wind cut right through our layers. we even caught a bit of low tide drama - will share tomorrow. i'm hoping the sun will hang around for another good walk tomorrow, maybe with a bit less of a gale behind it.

i hope your weekend was a good one - are you like me and critiquing red carpet fashion right now?