I was feeling guilty about not finishing my Olympic Knitting, even dreading coming on line to check out fellow Olympians gold medal performances. But Yarn Harlot posted this over at her blog; Even if you didn't finish, even if you never had your name entered on the list - everyone's a winner in Harlotville. And interestingly enough, all of my guilt has magically melted away.

On the other hand, while my baby-sweater-in-progress lies neglected beneath the coffee table, this piece IS finally finished (eight days and sixty-something hours later).






A close-up...



Another close-up. Drat that flash!



It's very difficult to screen-print evenly on such fragile fabric. That was definitely a learning experience. This piece - colourwise - was inspired by Gregory Thorp's beautiful photographs of corn (but darn, the ones I used as inspiration are not there, and since they're in a very nice magazine I'm fairly sure scanning them in would be a no-no.) The two photographs were side by side, and I loved the juxtaposition of the cools beside the warms, the sense of autumn beside fall. And since this piece was an abstract self-portrait, it seemed fitting when I took the fabric off the warp that it remain connected, whole, as one long vertical piece rather than two pieces side by side.

I have the feeling that I merely tapped the surface of something rich and gratifying here and want to do more. This piece itself is complete, but the work is not resolved, I guess I'd say.

But back to Gregory Thorp. I find his work, with all the subtle yet vivid colours and textures so inspiring that I may just keep staring and drawing from them. Textiles are so natural that way. Perhaps I should write him an e-mail. It will start something this... "Dear Greg, a quirky Canadian textile student has become obsessed with your photographs of corn..."

Edit: I just spent the last five minutes laughing at Jana's most recent post. What happens when your dear friends decide to mischievously join in on your Secret Pal experience????