My words pile grows.
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| Words and writing by Andy and me. |
And this makes me silly happy, even in my affliction.
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| My mami's beautiful handwriting. |
Still collecting and still stitching. I feel like a bird gathering twigs and fiber for a nest. I feel like a mad, giddily nerdy archivist digging through a vat of letters.
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| Word and writing by me. |
I feel like an Absinthe-drinking, word-obessesed character from a Borges story... a passionate, intense, woman dressed in black, with bright red lips, glasses and a mad look in her dark eyes who whispers, "give me more words," in a breathy voice into the ears of the fellow word-afflicted.
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| Word by Lisa RK, writing by mami. |
The more clear-headed of you ask, what are you making? A perfectly rational question. And if you know me, you know that I am a perfectly rational person about many things.
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| Saudade, word and writing by Ron. |
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| Kumquat by Chris, writing by mami. |
But about these stitched words... I am not. And I don't know yet what I'm making. Right now I'm just doing. Collecting and stitching words and asking you, in my most beseeching voice, "tell me a word."
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| Words and writing by Marcus and Juline. |
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| Word and writing by Bryony |
(I adore the words you've given to me, in your comments, in person, in email. I'm grateful for your grace.)
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Bar stitching. Grace by Jamie MrXStitch Chalmers,
writing by mami. |
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| Word and writing by Susan. |
What else am I making? Well, I have ideas racing around. An idea for a tiny, naughty-fun Valentine for my squeeze. And idea for a tiny portrait in red floss. And I'd like to stitch up a handkerchief for this
Danish war project.
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| Wanton by Ellen Schinderman, writing by mami. |
But what am I making with all of these words? I don't know. I know that I see a massive collection of fabric, stitch, paint and words. In the writing of all of these different hands.
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| Word and writing by Monique. |
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| People on Fire, by Guillermo Kuitca, 1993. |
Perhaps the stitch-speration for this giant, crazy project was this painting from the NC Museum of Art that I saw
last summer called,
"People on Fire" by Argentine artist Guillermo Kuitca.
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| Word and writing by me, the afflicted. |
For now I can only smile and reach out to you and ask again, will you spare me a word? Ask your friends. For me.