My studio is a hive of fabric and images. There are usually 3-4 pieces in process on the walls or tables, notes to myself stuck on various surfaces and a 12 foot bulletin board with paper flotsam pinned in layers. But more than that, I have collections of debris everywhere.
I have become a magpie, collecting shiny objects for the pile.
At the end of each project I wrap the trimmings into these textural balls as reminders of the raw and unfinished.
I collect rocks with holes in them for their animated messages.
I wrap tubes with strips of fabric. I don’t know why.
I stitch down trimmings.
I save thread ends, tie them together and wrap them onto spools or stuff them into holding cells.
I save all found rust. Especially the curly ones.
The bulletin board has 10 years of layers on it. I may have to edit soon.
Scraps from cut up quilts are great raw material for new work.
The fabric rainbow gives me great joy every time I see it.
The mask table is getting full. I may have to figure out some other way of keeping these soon.
I won’t go into the insect exoskeletons, broken shells, animal bones and feathery bits that turn up in my drawers. I think this habit of collecting drives my creativity. The rich raw materials that surround me take me beyond the mundane.