I recently came across Liz Kettle and her Stitch Meditations
After an illness she needed a way to relax and found normal meditation difficult. As an artist and embroiderer she started doing short embroideries as a way of being mindful. She would concentrate on the material and textures and threads in front of her, and stitch without lots of planning. She found that she would often choose colours and textures that represented her state of mind.
So, I gave it a go.
I was first inspired into exploring embroidery by seeing the mixed media art on display at the Textile East Fair in Swavesey in 2019. They were beautiful. I hadn't yet tried mixing media (other than a bit of embroidery on felted landscapes) when doing my first stitch meditation, so I just went for it.
I had a blank piece of fabric, and started with the sheep - of course - in a running stitch in the kantha style, based on the stitch I first tried from a kit also bought at the Textile East Fair.
I then, literally, made one decision at a time, choosing fabric, shapes, stitches and textures in a rather random way.
I loved it.
I felt more creative with the piece above than with anything else I've carefully planned and spent more time on.
The act of stitch meditations reminds me of a couple of weekends I spent last summer embroidering in the garden. I sat in the garden, cup of tea (or prosecco) on hand, cats at my feet, embroidering llamas and other animals. It was a fabulous experience, focussing on the stitching, and letting my mind wander free, as stresses and cares blew away in the wind.
Some stitch meditations are more successful than others, some more arty and better composed. However, the point is, that it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter what it looks like, or whether the colours or patterns match. It doesn't matter if it looks different to what you were expecting at the beginning. There is no judgement and no right or wrong.
Sometimes all I need at the end of the day is 15 minutes of time to myself to switch off and relax, and let my brain do what it needs to do to. If I can, at the same time, create something, so much the better.
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