Wabi Sabi Project Update

One of the things I love about a cruise vacation is that I have forced relaxation time.  My two favorite relaxation activities are reading and stitching so before we left for Barcelona I loaded up several books on my e-reader and got a new stitching project ready to go.  I finished two books and most of a third while I was away and got a good start on my new stitching project.

Here's my stitching progresst.  I am not totally sure where this is going, but I'm trying to straddle a fence between traditional and contemporary embroidery, honoring the old but adding something new.  On the traditional side, I'm enhancing the leaf motifs with fishbone and stem stitches in varying shades of green and blue.  On the contemporary side, I'm stitching in words around the edges of the center design using a variegated thread in brighter colors.

Here's a closer view.  The words around the outside are meant to convey my thoughts on our Wabi Sabi theme as it relates to this piece.  (As I mentioned a couple of posts ago, Wabi Sabi is the theme of a joint exhibit that Sonja and I are doing in February 2013.)


So far it says:
New life to something old and treasured...
a treasure revitalized...
revered, revived, recycled...
rejuvenated old gem...


I plan to continue in that vein all around the edge.


Beyond that I'm not sure.  I'll let you know as I progress.