“My cup floweth over”: a Balinese cornucopia

Finding this little oil painting bought from an unknown vendor on one of my regular visits to the village of Ubud in the hills of Bali during the early 1980s, I decided it needed resurrecting, a new life on my walls. Painted with oils on canvas, it has a wonderful mix of the naïve with the old European style still life of a classic vessel sitting on a pedestal stuffed to overflowing with an abundant collection of floral bounty and beauty. There is an abundance of butterflies too, which is likely an addition coming from the artist’s Balinese psyche, one that so appreciates the abundance in Nature. I had intended to get it hard framed, but instead turned into a small wall-hanging surrounded by a small fabric frame. It is definitely a ‘cornucopia’, and brings on so many happy memories from those times – of joy and excitement, and so much to wonder about in the natural abundance of this wonderful planet we live in, with all the other creatures, great and small, the natural technology of trees and ferns that support our environment, and rocks that reveal the ages of our magical planet. No miracles needed…Nature works for us when we listen to Her. This tiny painting, only 9x9 inches itself, seems the perfect visual with which to say “Happy Summer Solstice” to all! We are so privileged to celebrate and partake in the abundance of Earth’s bounty at this time! It is a time of transformation of Earth’s movement away from Mother Sun, with longest daylight hours starting the journey back towards the dark side. This year, 2020 is also the grand entrance to the Age of Aquarius with the alignment of Saturn and Jupiter at zero degrees in Aquarius…(permission to burst into song here!)

From the information that I’ve managed to read, this particular planetary conjunction hasn’t happened for 800 years, the last being just before (after?) Galileo had made his first telescope. From my position on the planet, in the Blue Mountains outside Sydney, I haven’t been able to see the closing into conjunct for the last week in the west – due to extremely wet weather and cloud cover! You might like to check the website of Mathilda Fanous, Astrologer, or do your own search.

On and off a merry-go-round (work in progress)

 Maybe my subliminal interest in creating these circles is the idea that for each one created and finished, there is another that allows you to start over again. It’s sort of similar comparable to the prisoner marking off the days of his/her sentence with strokes on the walls of the cell that confines them - an expression of the dream for freedom at the end. Seems a weird analogy, but that's what has come to mind! Although I have no conceptual or tangible end in sight for these circles, their construction is becoming part of my regular routine, and perhaps helps to address the anxiety and disruption being caused to everyone by the ominous presence of Covid-19, a sword hanging over the heads of us all – with the anxiety caused by restrictions to our family visits and social lives. 

As explained earlier, I wanted to make use of both the existing fabrics in my stash, and the time left vacant by something beyond my control. As the circles take form, I am reminded of a book by Jean Shinoda Bolen M.D. “The millionth circle”.  The book is promoted as ‘the essential guide to women’s circles’, many of which I have both attended and formed. Shinoda-Bolen refers to the importance of circles in relation to cultural changes:

"For patriarchy to become balanced by the discerning wisdom and compassion that are associated with the feminine aspects of humanity, and by the indigenous wisdom and relatedness to all living things and to the planet, that shift will come… "(p.1) 

It also brings me to an ever-deepening understanding and consciousness of the "still point", that can be reached in the ritual act of forming a women's spirituality circle, where the candle or symbol for the season sits in the middle. Or, as in the spiral dance, when walking or dancing the spiralling line to the centre, there is also a reversal to the outer edge. Our ancestors knew the significance of the spiral form coming as it does from the natural world, where everything dies off, goes underground and returns with renewed vigour. As a ritualised process for coming to a deeper understanding of the self-in-the-world, and re-connecting with self as inherently part of the natural world, the spiral can be found by numerous representations across cultures and time, from the earliest circles of standing stones to the fine masonry work inlaid in the floor of Chartres Cathedral.

These actions and movements allow us to reach a point of clarity, one of total realisation that is at once a release, a return, and offers a new beginning. It is 'where we face ourselves...and claim the song that is mine,' as the poem by Janice Mirikitani reveals (Where bodies are buried). Then I'm reminded of the seemingly paradoxical couplet from T.S. Elliot that, (when the dust settles), reiterate the sentiment of return and renewal: 'At the still point of the world, there the dance is.' For me both these sentiments hold the tension and irony of living with a potentially fatal disease, while attempting to live a 'normal' life - whatever that may be!

Obviously I will not be making a million circles - probably around 20 till I reach the still point and move on - but the idea of the final formation of the circles taking on the movement of a spiral is very appealing. Other ideas have become linger too. We will see. But first, here are some of the circles, in two colourways.

The two at the bottom here are unfinished.

   

Latest fabric basket

Here using up the patches in the blue colour ways, same size and lining

... more to come...next time smaller. It's all experimentation, with a useful object at the end, depending on how it suits. This as about where I'm up to, in terms of creativity in these days of Covid-19. 

 

Fabric pots - with a twist

 Although it is now the tenth day into September 2020, everything seems to move slowly these days – as though experiencing some sort of time lapse – or is it a ‘fast forward’???  Time seems to slip by almost unnoticeably. Soon it’ll be Xmas!

Not that I was ever a fast worker when it came to creating something new, but the motivation to engage in and push on with a meaningfully creative project seems to have seeped out. So instead, I found some already cut 5x5” squares given to me by a friend in my stash. I’m not sure what was intended for these patches, which came to me in two colour ways, green and blue. But I have decided to go for the ‘practical’ again, by taking the most obvious way out and following step-by-step instructions for a fabric basket – maybe for a pot plant. Of course the final size depends on the size of the patches you start with. This one was about 200x180.

Forming the outside cover

The steps seem to be more complicated at first glance than they actually are – to create the outcome of a spiral effect. Hopefully the images will show how simple it is to create it. It starts with four times four (4x4) patches, contrasting light and dark in (though that is up to personal choice) and joined to end in four straight lengths. These are joined in such a way as to create the base for the pot, with each length, exiting out from the join in a spiral formation. Thinking about practical use for the outcome, I started with all darks to form the base.

When the sides are pulled up and joined, the lower squares will form a diagonal square for the base, and points will be formed by the extra square from each join. When the lining goes in, these external squares will form the over-flaps at the top, to create extra interest. So the basic shape of the pot of formed – and is floppy. Then there is the lining.

I've changed to the green pot here to illustrate the formation of the bottom of the pot.

The lining

Finding a simple and compatible contrast for lining the pot – but no restriction applies here! Remember my aim is to use what is in my stash! For the green pot the dots seem to suit. So I made sure I had a large enough area to cover the length of the four strips, (minus the 1/4” seam allowances for length) and the four widths, in this case 5’’ – so a little over 20” wide, and roughly 18” in length. This one piece can be fused with lining of whatever stiffness you prefer, to help the pot stand alone - and then cut into the desired four lengths, to be treated in the same way as the outside fabrics: create a windmill, join the bases and side, ready for the external pot to be place over it, right sides facing for the final joining across the top to form the four peaks. It sits neatly like this when folded.

At this stage the pot is inside out, and about 2-3" gap in one of the walls of the lining needs to be left open in order to pull the inside out – that is after the top point have been stitched securely. Once pulled through this small opening, (which can be quite a struggle depending on strength of the stiffening used), the points at the top can be pushed through to become sharply pointed, and finally the aperture closed with hand stitching. You could finish with a row of decorative stitching around the top - or some hand embellishment. Of course at all stages of the process up until this, seams are pressed open to help flatness in the two layers. Et voila!

Going round in circles… circling around… going full circle… etc

I find myself, like so many others, living inside ‘this vast chasm of unstructured free time’, as I heard the virtual vacuum brought on by the Covid19 pandemic described. Time standing still, lack of purpose, a feeling of anxiety for all sorts of reasons… And Facebook regularly reminds me that people haven’t heard from me in a while, and to create a new post on my Soul Seasons Quilts page. And it’s August already!

 The Soul Seasons Facebook page is about my creative ventures, very much dependent on inspiration, not always so readily available, especially lately. My latest venture - mainly to save me going round the twist, is to make ‘flowers’, going around in ever decreasing circles, until I’m satisfied one is finished. I’ve been using vliesoflix to fuse the fabrics together with a hot iron, layer upon layer. Starting with several circles, and then gradually building them up dark upon light and blending each layer tonally to form ‘floral’ patterns. For me, it beats knitting – though I know that so many enjoy doing that, particularly when you do it by feel, as most knitters do.

I felt the need to “do” something while the time passes – or stands still, however it comes into your own consciousness in these strange days of suspended animation.  Days can pass slowly under the current circumstances, without providing much of a sense of achievement. So I started sketching different versions of floral patterns into my little A5 visual diary, using the designs on my little suitcase sitting opposite for inspiration. Ironically, it holds my unfinished red mohair knitted vest!

After almost 12 circles using the same pattern, I have ended up with several ‘template’ outlines made from the paper removed from the vliesofix cut-outs, from which to make up the parts that form the whole. I’ve kept them in case I need to come back to them, though they are all from the one drawing. 

I have done six drawings, so this could go on forever – and, at this rate of dealing with the pandemic, might need to! Here are they designs I came up with.

 The last design here is the first 12 circles, that I have used in different colour ways.

Having no real purpose other than to keep myself feeling useful, creatively so, I started to think of each of the emerging patterns as ‘tiles’, as is the Spanish, Moroccan, or generally Mediterranean tiles. This then led on to thinking of a possible eventual structure, by looking more closely at the designs of Persian carpet patterns evident in a few small rugs scattered on the floor.  

And round and round it goes...

Gang-gang dreaming reverse