Looking back, looking forward 2

Thank you so much for reading this blog, making comments both here and on Facebook and generally staying with me throughout 2024. I really do appreciate that you spend time with me.

I aim to post twice a week throughout the year - on Tuesdays and Saturdays. However this year I have written rather less. 

That said, I write my blog for me and only me. So if you find things of interest here, it's a bonus.

And next year (tomorrow!) I think I will aim to blog once a week with occasional extras when I've got something to write.  I want less stress and more focus.

I don't often look at the Stats but for the benefit of this post I thought I would. I wrote 75 posts including this one during 2024.

It's hard to tell which has been the most popular post this year because the Blogger Stats are weird and suggest I have had 8000-9000 views for some posts this year whereas Google Analytics says one post had 225 views. I'm pretty sure the Blogger Stats are way out.  

Assuming that Google numbers are more likely, it is still astounding to me that so many people are interested in what I do. Especially, as I've said, I do this for me. 

So thank you again to those who find me by chance, those of you that follow by email or by blog readers or my Facebook page. I appreciate each and every one of you.

Layering photos in Snapseed

 

So what is to come in 2025? More of the same really.

Photo tutorials.
Recording my creative journey, especially my attempts to finish 3 online workshop I signed up for with Fibre Arts Take Two.
The occasional post on mental health.
Photos of my travels – if I get to do any!
Journaling my Word of the Year 

Sometimes I wonder if I should change it up a bit. But if it isn't broken - why fix it?  

If there are things you would like to see on my blog, please let me know in the comments below. 

Thank you again for sticking with me
Bernice

Looking back, Looking forward 1

This is the first of three posts loooking back at 2024 and looking forward into 2025.  Today's post is a round up of the textiles I've made.  There are numerous posts showing the works in progress but this is the first time they've all been together.  Initially I thought that this year had not been particularly productive but then there's this!

They are in alphabetical order rather than chronological - just for a change.

Captivity, Freedom, Identity

Chaos to Calm

Conviction

 

 

 

 

 

Dancing in Fetters 1

Dancing in Fetters 2

Dancing to Freedom

Hollow

I Am Not A Number

Fettered/Unfettered

I'm excited to announce that you can see all these pieces at Forge Mill Needle Museum in Redditch, Worcestershire from March 19th to April 27th 2025.

Plus there were 2 river pieces not pictured here.  The Story of the River and The River Flows Out

Thanks for being here today
Bernice

Happy Christmas

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas.

(C) Phil Botha (Unsplash)

This is a poem I wrote many years ago.

Night Watch

A cold, cheerless night
Star bright sky and misted moon,
Raw winds around the hillside
Chilling the soul.
My turn to watch,
Keep guard from ten to dawn.
Keep safe the sheep of other men
From predators - meat starved in winter.
Watch over the sleeping men
Who share my troubles and the cold.

So cold it was, high on the hill.
Below the town slept
White houses clutching the hillside.
No lights to brighten the darkness
Or the chill of the night watch.
I was a young man then
Not old and wizened as today.
So long ago, but in my memory
It stays star bright.

One star blazed,
A many faceted solitaire
Shone down, it seemed, on one poor place,
A stable carved from the rocky hill.
The light beckoned, called us forth.
The sky seemed full of music
Sounding a hymn of praise.

We shepherds left our sheep,
Ran down the hillside to the cave
Drawn by the beauteous sound
Of joy, until we reached the place
Where a baby lay.
We knelt before the child
Not knowing why, or who he was.
But we were filled with gladness
And returned to our flocks rejoicing.

So long ago. Thirty years, or more -
And yet it seems like yesterday.
What happened to the boy I wonder?
Is he rich and famous now,
Or a poor shepherd, like me?

Thank you for being here today.
Bernice

Onomatopoeia

In this week's zoom poetry workshop we looked at onomatopoeia.  Sara-Jane introduced us to three poems and after each one we were set a task. 

After the 2nd poem: The Field Mouse, we were set the following task: Write a poem that begins by naming a season or a month and tells the story of something that happened during that time. It could be a personal childhood or adult memory, or a local or global event or a mixture of personal and global.

This is what came to my mind.

Isolation

Winter days, silent as though night.
Late risen light through icy clouds,
shadowy outlines of stark, leafless trees.
Dull hours descending into gloom
before dusk’s grimy hand clutches
the day’s end and forces the night.

Sad days, the cheerless light
penetrating the mind already anguished.
Forlorn, the insinuating whispers
overwhelm the mind with negativity.
Snide words, disparaging talk
crushing and chilling the soul.

Late winter, when silent streaks of light
splinter the darkness with slender fingers
of luminosity, breaking the desolation.
Small glimpses of the Spring to come.
Snowdrops glistening in the frosty dawn
and hopeful thoughts assail the mind.

Thank you for joining me today.
Bernice

Just one photo or two

For the December theme for Snapshot Girls I asked the ladies to choose between one and five photos they had taken in 2024.  It didn't have to be from any of the monthly themes.  Just a few photos that they really liked.

This is mine.

Waiting for fish

Almost sunset

I thought I hadn't taken many photos this year.  But when I looked through my computer files I found I had taken more than I remembered.

Thanks for being here today
Bernice

Spiralling

You may remember my last post where I showed you the spiral I had drawn and written.

It now looks like this:

The next stage is to put a wadding and a backing and then stitch.  What colour should I stitch the spiral?  I think it might be grey.

Come back to see what happens!

Thanks for being here today
Bernice

Spiral

Last week I introduced you to my poem Hollow and the initial work I had done for the textile piece.  I'm a bit further on now.  I looked up on the internet how to draw a spiral without a compass.

I measured out the 1.5 inch and then 2 inch distances and made marks on the paper.  I used a thumbtack to hold a piece of ribbon and made holes at the right distances to push the pencil through.  It did get a bit messy at times because I forgot how to do the second set of semicircles!

However it all worked out in the end and I was able to cut the spiral out.  I mapped out the words of the poem using 3 different pens and two colours of Gutta.  The copper writing will need to be bigger but I didn't want to use too much on this trial in case I ran out on the fabric.

Next I needed to draw the spiral onto the calico, but first I had to wait for the Gutta to dry.

I drew the spiral on to calico.  I had to cut the spiral in pieces so that I could draw more easily.

Then I wrote the words with the pens and the Gutta. The copper coloured writing didn't turn out any bigger.  It was hard enough as it was!

I'm at Littleheath Barn for a Studio Day when I plan to paint the dye onto the fabric.

Thanks for being her today
Bernice

On to the next thing!

I finished the binding on my Fettered/Unfettered hanging.  The binding doesn't show.

So, on to the next thing.  In a recent Theme Poetry workshop the theme was holes.  Halfway through Sara-Jane's presentation I was convinced I was going to write about caving and potholing and how I can't even cope with watching it on television because of the thought of getting stuck in a tiny hole!  However the following was what I wrote!

Hollow

Did I dig the hole myself?
Not an embarrassing hole
where my words put me
in the wrong. Where someone said
‘Put down the spade!’

Did I dig the hole myself?
Deep inside myself
Like a big black dog
scraping up the earth
to bury a flimsy bone.

Did I dig the hole myself?
A place to hide
Where darkness reigns
and melancholy rules.
An unkind space of desperation.

Did I dig the hole myself?
Perhaps. But circumstance
brings desolation and woefulness.
An encouraging word, a hand outstretched
bring a flicker of hope and light.

I started to think about how I might make this in a textile piece.  My initial thought was to make a very large logcabin style patchwork hanging. This version starts with the poem's first line on the outside.

But then I thought about how you spiral down into depression and the long route back. TIn this version the first line starts in the dark middle.

I've since been playing with different pens and media to see which will show up when the fabric is dyed.  This was using Posca pens.  The yellow pen doesn't show up when the Golden Yellow procion dye is added. The middle colour pen is actually copper but it doesn't show up correctly in the photo.

This series is using Copic pens

I tired writing with diluted fabric paint with a nozzle bottle which gave really poor results.  I also tried with a paintbrush.  Another experiment was using Acrylic Ink with the dropper that came with the bottle of ink and that gave an even worse result.

I was doing all these experiments at Littleheath Barn.  The main thing I was going to try was Gutta - but I left it at home.

Back home I tried the Gutta.  I could write fairly well with the tube which has a nozzle.  However the darkest procion dye I had was Ultramarine.  However the gold Gutta shows up on the Golden Yellow procion dye.

I also tried the Gutta on leftover fabric that was already dyed.

I think might use different pens for the different areas of the writing.  Something to ponder in the next few days.

Thanks for being here today.
Bernice

What to do?!?

At the beginning of the year I started with a new set up in my Happy Planner.

However during the anxiety time I used it a lot less.  Then I got back into it and then it fell off again.   In fact I stopped using it altogether.

Despite this, at the end of August I bought a new planner for 2025.

Then I read Valerie's blogpost: Changing the way I journal.  It made me think about how I might use my new planner.  It occurred to me that I could put the 2024 months of October, November and December into the new planner and make my year be 15 months.

I certainly put the pages into the planner but nothing happened.  Then I thought I would start again with November and that hasn't happened.

Since then Valerie has written more posts: A New Journaling Idea for 2025 and Set Up for my 2025 Journals.

I use the calendar on my phone to keep a track of what I'm doing so I don't need to duplicate this in the planner as I have done before.

I used to have to-do lists in the planner and I think I will go back to doing that, rather than the haphazard method of recent times which has been scraps of paper!

 

 

This was the penultimate time I decorated the page and actually filled it in.

If you look closely you can see that I used it to record what I had done.  I think this is the way to go with the new planner.  Use the weekly pages to journal rather than plan. And to record what I am thankful for each day.

Of course, whether this new plan starts in December or January really depends on the level of procrastination that comes into play!

And it still doesn't address the idea of a commonplace book.  I have wanted to do one for ages.  Looking back, it's over 10 years since I've wanted to do one motivated by Mary Brack's post: Commonplace.

I have to wonder whether if it's that long then the idea probably isn't for me.  Something to think about!

And lastly, do I want to pick a Word of the Year for 2025?  My word for this year was [Discover].  Here was my thinking in 2023: New Year, New Word.

You might be thinking 'so what has she discovered?'  Well that's another post!

Thanks for being here today
Bernice

Homecoming

Last year I started work looking at my Australian Connections.  Recently my eldest grandson was asking about my Dad, his great-grandfather, who was born in Brisbane and came to England in 1931.  I had sent him various bits of information I had gathered about my Dad and so it was uppermost in my mind as I attended this week's poetry zoom workshop.

I think the little boy hanging over the rail in the middle is my Dad on the SS Hobsons Bay as it was leaving Adelaide in 1931.  They had boarded the ship in Brisbane and already called in at Sydney on the way.

In the poetry workshop we were looking at Assonance.  This is the repetition of vowel sounds in words that are close to each other. It is usually the sound rather than the letter used that is important.

We were set this challenge: Write a poem exploring an aspect of history or an historical incident/event/activity - can be personal, local or global. Pay particular attention to your use of assonance to give appropriate ‘music’ and emotional tone as you shift focus, emotion and subject.

SO here it is:

Homecoming 

Boarding the ship
The queue unhurried,
One step, and then another
moving slowly, dragging cases
filled with all their worldly goods.
So much left behind.
Toys, books, school, friends. 

Thudding into life
the engines churned,
throbbing through the walls
and floors. The ropes
untied and drawn aboard.
The noise and clamour
of shouted goodbyes.

The three children jumped
up and down, excited
by their new adventure.
Leaving Brisbane behind. 

Brisbane to Sydney.
Sydney to Melbourne.
Each port leaving a fond farewell.
Melbourne to Adelaide.
Adelaide to Fremantle.
Australia left behind.

Somewhere in the Indian Ocean
with no more boarding
or fond farewells
boredom set in.
Games played over and over
until they no longer had meaning.
Adrift at sea, wave upon wave
Nothing between them
and the horizon. 

Fremantle to Colombo.
At last some land in sight.
The last leaving, or so they hoped.
No longer the warmth of southern sun
but cloudy grey and cold
As the engine thudded
and throbbed its way
to a land they’d never known. 

But first more landings
Colombo to Port Said.
Port Said to Malta
and the last leaving.

Day after day, week after week
The engines drummed their ears.
Until, at last, the terminal port.
And their final leaving.
A homecoming of sorts
in a land they’d never known.

Thanks for being here today
Bernice

Abstract

For the photography theme this month I chose Abstract as in 'simplified forms or forms with no basis in reality, such as geometric shapes or gestural marks'.

Metal sculpture

Marks in stone

Geometric pattern

Decaying fabric

An abstract painting in an exhibition

These photos may not totally fit that definition but hey! artistic licence.

Thanks for joining me today.
Bernice

Cutting It Up

Way back in August I told you about how I had written out my poem on calico using masking fluid.

I left it alone because I didn't like the piece and couldn't think of what I could do to it to be able to finish it.  Eventually after I got back from Australia in mid-October, I cut it up into strips.

Then I piece it back together with strips of undyed calico, making it landscape instead of portrait.

I left it again for a couple of weeks before bonding the words 'fettered' and 'unfettered onto it.

The 'unfettered' doesn't really show up until you get close to it.  I decided to running stitch round the letters.

I finished the letter outlines and then added musical notes.  I have been having a lot of problems lately with getting bondaweb to bond properly.  I love Mistyfuse but you can't draw on it because it doesn't have a backing sheet.  I tried ironing it onto freezer paper but it stuck to the paper.  Fortunately I found some HeatnBond in my stash and tried that.  It seems to be successful.

All that's left to do is add the binding.  However first, I need to decide whether the binding shows as an edge or not.  I'll let you know what I decide.

Thanks for joining me today
Bernice

Things in Threes

Through September and October in our photography group we could choose from a selection of titles.  I chose 'Things in Threes'.

A house number

A piece of rubbish

3 things not usually seen together!

Boats in a tree

Boats under a tree

A sculpture in the Botanic Garden

The above was a bit of a cheat as there were actually 5 of the metal shapes.

And lastly not things, but granchildren!

Thanks for being here today
Bernice