Karen Ruane

hello

How've you been? I have missed this little space more than I can say. I wish I could tell you that I'm getting there or at least making progress but I'm not sure I am. I have been drawing, I have been painting, I have been trying to force something that I really don't think is there. The longer this goes on the more I am beginning to realise that I don't want to change who I am creatively. With that in mind I'm hoping it's a 'blip' this creative meltdown I appear to be suffering from.

There are two online classes ongoing at the moment and I have been focusing on those, trying to give my best to those...(I think I am but they can tell you better than me) The piece here isn't from my ledger class although you would be forgiven for thinking it was. It's inspired by my ledger class and it's an idea I have been working on for an artist book in a different form. In addition to this I have been thinking a lot about backgrounds....page backgrounds specifically but that's an altogether different challenge. I'm no painter....recent painting practice has confirmed that, painting actually makes me unhappy....brings me down.....truly deflates me. How to achieve interesting page backgrounds without painting? Print? I'm not a printer....the simple truth is I am an embroiderer, nothing else.....I stitch.

Reading this back I laughed out loud....confusion still reigns....good thing you can't see inside my head.

paper, layers....

From the very start of this piece I never had a plan. It just grew, evolved and the result was this very impracticle artist book which would crease if you looked at it the wrong way, is difficult to handle and needs extra careful 'putting away' when I finish working on it. Last time it was on here I was planning on layering paper and lace to create 'linings' for the two large areas on the front. They are done now as you can see. After they are tied on I have no clue what will happen next, I'm as much in the dark as you are.

filing pages with lace, cloth, stitch and dangly things

This little book is getting so full, so full it's hard to work on the pages now. Impossible is what will stop me though and for now we're not there. The little green 'donut' like bead which I added yesterday has been living here for a few years. I have several of those just waiting for their perfect place. They are supposed to slot onto a tubuar bracelet, jewellery, build your own collection of these kind of things to adorn your wrist in the manner of a charm bracelet. I prefer to adorn a page.

Embroidery school is two weeks 0ld now. Up to now we have made buttons, these buttons and these buttons.......it's not too late to join in. You can read more here.

A glimpse inside this book

 

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Karen Ruane (@karenruane) on Sep 22, 2019 at 4:50am PDT

studio time

I've been taking pictures as I work this past week, recording what I'm doing, keeping track. Mostly what's been happening is related to classes, titivating pages for ledger class, creating buttons and figuring out where to use them for embroidery school and then there's the cloth book. I've been thinking about that a lot, making plans for more pages and wondering how mnay pages there will be in total when I'm finished.

There's new thread too. A christmas gift which is only just being used properly. I will wind those onto cards as and when I use them. I did put these on my christmas list last year out of curiosity as I'd never used them before. They have glitter...a shocker for me but it is quite subtle and the threads remain beautifully soft despite the glitter.

my ledger is filling up.....

Each day I fall a little bit more in love with this ledger. Each additional stitch, each additional scrap of pattern, I love how it's evolving. Working in this book over the past few days has helped with my angst too, the angst I have been speaking of in my last two posts, the angst concerning the viability of my continuing with online classes.

The latest page for this which isn't shown here, (I will post that some time this week), that latest, most recent work confirmed for me that this is who I am. I can't become someone else. I don't want to become someone else. I like being me. I love my classes. I have a bond, an affinity with each person who learns alongside me whether they only take one class or twenty classes. The thought of not having that, of not having this 'life' is not something I can contemplate.

Working on that as yet unseen page made me think...why am I doing this? who is it for? and the answer? I was doing it for me of course but also I was doing it to fire ideas, create inspiration, ideas and inspiration to share with the girls in Ledger class. And they are inspired, they tell me they are inspired.

There has been feedback to my last little period of angst too, all of it positive,  most of it asking me not to stop. Thank you for that. I honestly didn't post those thoughts for an ego boost. (and I haven't had an ego boost anyway, my angst ran too deep for that) I posted them because I felt I had to, to allow me a forum for thinking, deciding.

I'm not a quitter. I feel I have something to offer the world of embroidery and creativity so I'm going to pull my socks up and crack on.

putting a book together

I was asked a question on Friday from someone who had taken my recent artist book class. It concerned these little artist books, the books which fall open and refuse to close, the artist books which I see more as sculptures than functional books. Anyway, I have been meaning to put another one of these together for quite some time now and that question gave me the shove I needed to get on and do it.

Up to now the pages only have pieces which have been made for quite some time. At least they aren't just lying around anymore but there's a long way to go with this one. I just counted and there are 35 blank pages to embellish, then there will be overlays. It's always a long game with these and that's what I love about them.

(If you are registered for September embroidery school which begins tomorrow you should have received an email from me this morning. If you didn't reeive that can you please let me know as soon as possible)

a new colour

When I ordered more white thread recently this pale blue caught my eye. I'm not the biggest fan of the colour blue unless it's a darker blue coupled with white and nothing else but I thought I'd order this one and give it a go. I worked a little stand alone page, added the blue and now I'm looking at how it lives with my usual colours....I'm not so sure. I don't 'love' it and maybe that's a sign that it doesn't work for me. I don't dislike it but I'm indifferent.

Looking at the new page here in these images, the blue page, I'm asking myself why I didn't make it a similar size to the little book then it would have fitted in??? Hindsight is a wonderful thing.

Monday..yikes...the new 'embroidery school' begins in less than 48 hours. If you would like to read more just go here.

The first videos are made and ready to go. My first buttons for class are created and are very different to anything I have made before, they're lovely. I should be able to show you on here some time next week when the girls in class have seen them. (I'm also thinking they are going to feature a lot in all my work from now on)

filling up my little book

This little book is getting more attention although it is getting harder to work on the pages as it's so crammed. It's also getting very difficult to photograph too because it insists on falling open on the centre page. A few strategically placed paper clips solve that problem temporarily and I wouldn't change that aspect of this piece because in addition to being really happy with each page I love the sculptural qualities which emerge as you work on these little books.

The latest page was worked to try out an idea I have for joining pieces, connecting pieces using tiny hand embroidered button loops. So far so good

extending pattern choices

The latest work from ledger class....extending pattern options. We are looking at shape and colour alongside proportion and how to mix all that up in class. At the same time we are recording our ideas in our ledgers and I have to say...round of applause please....mine is getting pretty full.

I think I'm in danger of seeing this as a 'create a pretty book' exercise rather than the design exercise it's supposed to be. Ooops! Don't worry, I will give myself a good talking to, rein myself in.

(If you are registered for September embroidery school you should have received an email from me this morning. If you didn't get that can you please let me know asap.)

continuing page embellishments

It's hard to describe how much I am enjoying working in this little book, it's becoming addictive. These pages aren't quick to work, it's not that I'm getting instant gratification but just handling the fine paper and working in to it with cloth and embroidery is very satisfying and when it eventually comes together I'm itching to get going with the next one.

The paper in these small, bought sketchbooks is very thin in comparisson to other paper I have used in the past, it is much more at risk from creasing so I need to be extra careful but the finish is much gentler, softer, more delicate. Heavier paper can, if you're not careful take away from the delicate nature of the cloth you are using or the fineness of the thread. I think I will try and work with this type of paper a little more in future, perhaps creating my own little books from it when I finally figure out what it is I need to buy.

September embroidery school begins two weeks tomorrow. There is a lot of sampling for that going on in the background here and I am getting really excited......you can read more about that here if you think you might want to join me.