getting better

i have been good and doing my exercises and taking my drugs and the back is getting better - yay! although carpet cleaner was swiftly put on the shopping list when i lay down on the rug to do my back exercises and was nearly overcome by the fumes of dog miasma..... billthedog is not a smelly dog but there is a definite afterglow effect on the rug....

i still can't sit for very long - urbane scrumping very kindly took me out for lunch and i spent much of the time in the cafe standing up or moving around. it was a very good lunch - pippa's croque (sourdough toast with spinach, bacon and an egg - i think there may have been cheese involved too - followed by a very good blackberry and lemon tart) at pippa may cook- my current favourite cafe.

short term sitting means i can't really sew but i can paint and have started another couple of wips - my supreme talent seems to be starting projects..... i am playing with some of the techniques in maggie grey's new book textile translations (available here) if you buy the book you can also access free online classes with maggie and participation in the class yahoo group which is really really valuable as you get all sorts of tips and guidance and reassurance from maggie. which makes you less likely to give up when you Make a Mistake. my bits didn't turn out the way i was expecting/hoping but i am going to keep going and turn them into something else.

first here is the result of experiment 1 - gesso and inks and paints on vilene. the chief mistake in this one was trying to add texture with some overly thick bits of paperclay (a new to me product that i haven't mastered yet - they will be salvaged and used for something else) in the meantime i like the marks they left on the vilene.

experiment 2 is 3 pieces of hessian, painted with gesso, ink and paints and incorporating a sort of lace collary thing i found in the stash - it has been cut in half and stuck down on the outside pieces of the triptych.

both the experiments were painted with gel medium and are drying. maybe inks tomorrow....

and here is the handsome chunk of gorgonzola that we hoed into before dinner this evening - yum-mo