Thursday 12 February 2009

Painting and premonition....


Inspiration does not come easily sometimes just sat at my desk, so I trot off further afield so see what goes. My recent wanderings have led me to the river here as you can see from previous photos, so with that in mind I created this abstract silk cushion cover loosely based on swollen, dark undercurrents and islands interspersing the flow. I chose woodwork class at school instead of needlework, and my, did that come back to haunt me. It took me nearly 4 hours to sew up by hand! I must be one of the few females not to own a sewing machine- plenty of power tools mind, but no Singer. If I'm honest though it wouldn't have taken half the time if I hadn't stopped for boredom breaks every other minute. Or coffee. Or chatting. Or looking out the window.... you get the idea. Anyway I digress as ever. What I'm failing to do is explain the title of this post in connection with the photo. Well guess what happened after I had finished the cushion amd placed it all a-plumped in it's spot? Yep. The river broke it's banks and completely flooded the area down here. Mike and I spent ages siliconing our defences in place, and putting everything up high out of harms way. Waiting was the hardest, but fortunately the water only got as far as the bottom of the step to the door. I now know why we can't get flood insurance here, as we watched the water ebb back to the river.

Note to self- paint a sunny scene next. 

6 comments:

Norma Pugh said...

What a glorious stormy cushion and it even has an evil eye peeping out! Perhaps a sunny cushion might change the weather? So glad you didn't get any damage. Love Mems and Peps

Serena said...

Dear Mems and Peps,
eye-eye! Thank you for popping by- we had our fingers and toes crossed, and luckily it worked. I'm going to ask Mike if he can do a sun dance on the decking- that should sort the weather properly!! Xxx

Trevor Lingard said...

Hi Serena
This is stunning and sewn by hand too. You are very clever. I think investing in a machine will give you the quality time for producing these wonderful pieces.
Glad you survived the flood too.
Regards

Serena said...

Thank you for your kind comments Trevor, and yes, I shall certainly be investing... life is just too short!

~Babs said...

GASP!
WATER!
SILKS!
ARTWORKS!
Scarey thoughts,,,,SO glad you had no damage!

I've owned a Singer for many years. I used to try to make clothing,,daughter and myself. Nothing ever fit, and I have no patience for alterations. I have used it on TONS of occasions however,,,,for window treatments, cushions, and yes, many pillows!
(Gosh that's incredibly gorgeous fabric!)

Serena said...

Hello Babs!
Guess what I have just gone and bought! It's not a Singer but it'll do (well, anything is better than the current situation!) I have a couple of nice camisoles I am itching to put together- hopefully the machine will arrive soon. It's great you and your daughter spent time together sewing... got a feeling my boys will never spend time doing that with me!!! Lol!