Thought-bath results in progress

Thinking

...Look, it's coming..... this is the idea that came to me in the bath. It's in its infancy and will have a lot more embellishment, but this is the start... the 8 pointed star is found in Sumerian archaeological finds, from the city of Ur whence Abraham is said to originate. (Great! I was going to use it anyway, but this is what I need to hear). It is later used in Islam of course. My Folkwear book of ethnic clothing tells me that 'an eight-pointed star originated in Sumerian iconography as the symbol for Gula, consort of the sun god Shamash.' But I don't knpow how accurate this is, and I don't have time to research it in depth; this will have to do for now, as I have to get on with making. My friend Olivia, who is from partly Greek stock, emailed me to say, "I was delighted to see the eight pointed star - took be back to my childhood where of course it s a standard motif in Cypriot embroidery - often including drawn thread work or satin stitch. You find it especially in the embroidery known as Lefkara lace. I have several examples amongst my inherited table linen." Olivia is an artist and psychotherapist in Dublin, and you can see her work at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/olivia_b/

(Note stitched-out chart of all embroidery stitches available to me on the brilliant Pfaff 2058. It's my breakfast-time reading matter. See also the example of real Palestinian hand embroidery; quite beyond my capabilities, I'm a machine woman.)

The stars are stencilled using some glittery metallic powders mixed with some acrylic fabric-printing medium. I've had these tubes ofr glitter since 1984 when my Grandad died, and I had access to the art materials he had. I was impressed by bohemian's storage system, that I knew just where I'd kept them, as I've not used them before.

Stencil is made in manilla

This is a worked example of the thought-bath and its effects. I'm quite pleased so far. This is the 'plastron' for Sarah's dress, the bib-like decoration that is found in Syrian, Palestinian and other dress. I'm not doing fancy-dress, so this is meant to evoke

Glittery powders from my hoarded materials

rather than to imitate.

(To make total sense of this entry, you need to go back to the blog entry showing me in the bath with a tart, called 'The thought-bath'.)

I'm carrying on with my work... if you read 'Thought-bath', why not go and try it for yourself?

Guide lines sewn for later embellishment

Not by any means complete....