Why do we stitch? Why do we sit down and stitch rather than do something else with our time? This is a theme that I have thought about and written about for decades. This question is an essential one for those of us who help guide the direction of our various guild chapters.
People do it for the sheet pleasure of stitching. This is the underlying truth of it. Sheer pleasure. The monotony of the stitching which becomes prayer, mantra, and meditiation. That is certainly why I do it, but not the only reason I do it. For most people this is enough--the pleasure.
For some people, the passing on of hand skills through the generations is the keynote to their doing it. To pass this knowledge from mother to daughter is a wonderful, satisfying thing. My own great-grandmother, Mary Ardella Ingalsbe was a tatter. Three of her four daughters were tatters. My grandmother, Dell's oldest child, did not do tatting as far as I know. But my great-aunts, Leona, Evelyn, and Charlotte left me a mound of tatted lace and four old shuttles. My mother also did not tat. I learned how when I was in college from a wonderful lady who lived next door to my parents. I am happy to have those generational skills.
Other people love to embroider just to fill the time. It is something "busy" they can do with their hands while watching TV or traveling or listening to sermons. All well and good. I personally cannot watch TV and stitch. I have to pay too much attention to the work. I can listen to music or book tapes. And I rarely have a small enough or simple emough project to sit on a plane and do. But I see other people do it all the time.
I know some people who do it because they can do it. Most stitching is not hard to do, but it takes a little practice even for the easiest cross-stitch. Some people who think they have no other skills, say to draw or do woodworking or crossword puzzles, are pleased to be able to stitch. I fall into this category too. It is easy for me to do and therefore I do it. It took me years to learn how to draw well enough that I am satisfied, but I was able to stitch fairly well from the first time I picked up a #20 tapestry needle.
But there are other more complex reasons to stitch. I stitch to express myself. As an artist I must communicate with others how I feel, how I see, how I imagine things to be. I like to simplify things to their essential elements and show the world those elements through my own perceptions. I am an artist and my main medium of expression is through embroidery and fiber.
There are people who stitch in order to explore insides themselves and inside their relationships with others. My BFF Ann Erdmann and I recntly completed two books that we both worked on. The two books are duplicates, but not identical. We each made five pages, that is, decorating the front and back of 4" X 6" cards. We made two of each card. So our books have ten pages in them, half done by Ann and half by me. The book is a celebration of our friendship. Some of the pages are wholly stitched and some are partially stitched, some are painted and beaded, some have manipulated photos on them. Those two books are true collages in fiber mixed media. The book is called Soror Amica Aeterna, or, for the Latin impaired, Sister Friend Eternal.
I stitch, I produce work, and then I exhibit the work and ultimately, hopefully, sell the work. This gives me the most satisfaction in life. It is through these actions that I feel validated as an artist and as a person.
So, why do you stitch? For any of these reasons? For all of them? For a different reason entirely? Let me know!
1 comment:
What a lovely post. My mother taught me how to do the basic double stitch. She did not tat. She could never get her hands to make the threads switch in order to do the proper double stitch, but she understood it enough to teach me that part and I could do it with my hands! I still do, 28 years later! I've taught myself all the other techniques with tatting since then, but I am so grateful to my dear mother for teaching me the hardest part of learning to tat.
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