It's not been all that easy to keep up with anything creative lately. First the lack of supplies, then the lack of inspiration, followed by the fact that weather makes all paper corners curl and most importantly lack of a table to work on. Of course, there are tables in the house, but I am so used to working in my own space with no one around me, listening to an audio book, that I have been working in the spacious guestroom, right, which has no table.
The picture didn't quite work out the way I wanted it, and you can see Fleur's fingers, but that adds charm, I think. Perfectionism is not something I strive after. Rather, I prefer spontaneity and we had a good time making the pictures. The drawing I like, a little bit of reality and a little bit of fantasy. They do exist, leafy seahorses.
I used Faber Castell crayons from the children's drawing section, marked 'for children 3 years and over'. I think I fit the category, besides I never nibble on my pencils.
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| A painting by Fleur. |
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| Fleur |
I have a little helper who held up some artwork for me to photograph because during the monsoon here, everything is wet and light is scarce because the house has a canopy of tall tropical trees that keep out a lot of light. When you sit on the veranda leaves and flowers drop down, and now and then a coconut.
Yesterday I googled my name, which I do from time to time to see what comes up. I noticed a picture of a sampler there and my first name. I had posted something a while back on a sampler my mother had made many years ago but it was not the one in the picture. I went from one link to another and met another Elza, and a group of embroidery enthusiasts, that were looking for a particular sampler which they had seen in a coffee commercial. After a long search they had already found the pattern which was made at the Zuiderzee Museum in Enkhuizen in the '70's but that is no longer being offered for sale, I believe. I took the opportunity to tell them that my mother had worked there during that period and had made patterns from very old samplers, counting them out stitch by stitch, finding the correct colors and embroidering them to check for mistakes. She also embroidered some for herself, which have been given to my brothers and me.
This morning I read the posts a little more carefully, and sure enough there was my mother's name, which was on a paper along with the pattern they had found. What fun to see that. To me it's an acknowledgement of her work.
Then another surprise. I found my brother's sampler in a drawer in the guestroom here at the house in Bangkok and to my surprise it is the first sampler made by my mother from the reconstructed pattern. It's the exact same sampler the Embroidery group was looking for.
It's monsoon here, so it was out of the question photographing it outside, because everything is wet and now and then there is another shower. I think the pictures are clear enough though for those who are interested to see the finished result.
Now I am going to write my mother a letter telling her all about it. I am sure she will enjoy hearing it.
