Abstract No. 23 Purple painted nine patch

It seems that I cannot get away from sewing. I'm not a quilter but I do like the nine patch and the quilts. I love and always will love the hand stitching on anything. I am totally addicted to that texture. And there is some connection to that visual reminder of the person that did the stitching. I am moved by it's presence. When I first went to spend time with my mom as she went through what would become the final stages of alzheimer's I thought that I could interest her in hand stitching. She didn't have the ability to cut a pattern and sew on the machine anymore so I hoped this would give her something to do. I brought my sewing bag, which I keep filled with a healthy supply of beautiful scrap fabrics and needles and a variety of colors of embroidery floss. I was really hoping she would love this. I gave her the idea and she was receptive and I let her look through my scraps and she settled on a blue green print that was just her style. I threaded a needle with some turquoise thread and handed it to her and she started to stitch. She only had the energy to do this for about ten minutes. Fortunately, there was some kind of an interruption and there was no conversation about the work she did. I quickly put it away and we went on to other things. I never wanted her to feel her stitching was anything but beautiful. Her stitching however, was the first real smack in the face I had with the reality of where she was and what she was capable of.  Just recently I ran across the piece that she'd stitched and I instantly was .........ohhhhhhh.........it was so lovely this piece of fabric with her hands having haphazardly stitched these long strings of blue green thread. I was surprised how much I loved this little scrap. My mother's last stitching. ever.

I guess grief comes in waves. I guess it comes in patches. Maybe the purple, blue green patches will soothe this sadness. I can paint sadness and I can paint comfort. I can paint whatever I want.

This purple piece is about 12" x 12" on cut primed canvas.  It is unstretched. It is acrylic. I cut it out of a roll of canvas that I have so it's not even perfectly square and only looks that way because I cropped out the background. It could be easily stretched on a small frame. If you are interested in this piece email me at iwilldream4ever@aol.com. More tomorrow. I am getting back to the regular schedule. No more in between days. Thanks for stopping over.