Very Overdue Questions and Answers: Fall, 2020

It has been pretty hectic around here for the past few weeks while we worked on the Extras and on directions for how to use them. That is still our major focus. However, I noticed that the container where I collect written questions and comments, and make notes on verbal ones, was getting very full. It dawned on me that nearly 3/4 of the year has passed and I have only done a single (1!) Question and Answer post! I usually do one every season! So today I am going to try to answer at least the questions about arts and crafts. Some of the questions have been reworded, shortened, or combined. My apologies for the delay.

Do you have any new border designs for cross-stitch? I like to use them on pillowcases and guest towels. I'm pretty much housebound since the pandemic and embroidery sure helps me pass the time.

I know exactly what you mean. Because of my age and some physical problems, I am extremely "high-risk". I have been "sheltered" since January! Fortunately writing, designing, artwork and handwork don't give me much time to dwell on the situation, but I know it can get frustrating and very depressing. There is a new design at the beginning of this article and another later in the post. Enjoy!

How did the sit-on embroidery frame work out? I have been thinking about getting one.

I  was not as happy with mine initially as I thought I would be, but J.D.  did some modifications. He drilled an extra set of holes at the top of the side pieces so that there was another position for the frame. Then he fashioned a padded slip-on cover for the base to make my bony legs more comfortable. I also found out that putting some support — a sturdy flat box will do — under my feet made the position more comfortable. My left hand has improved greatly. It used to cramp painfully from keeping the tension on the needlepoint canvas. One thing I do caution about: you cannot jump up quickly to answer the phone or doorbell.

Did you realize that if you changed one of the two border designs where you did one right-side-up and the same one upside-down (March 19, 2020) that you could put them together and get an owl's face?

Not until you brought it to my attention! That's unusual, because I have owls all over the house and anything about owls rarely escapes my notice. I have some Native American ancestry. One horribly cold New Year's Day when I was a teenager,  a great horned owl perched just outside my bedroom window. We stared at each other off and on all day and I really felt we communicated. From that time on I thought of the owl as my Spirit Animal. J.D. did some of his photographic magic to combine the two images with the necessary change. Is this what you had in mind? I will definitely use the design on a future project!

I love the fish pin with the opal head (June 28, 2020). Where did you get it?

The design was mine. My late husband made the pin. After he retired from the Army, he learned jewelry making and became a successful silversmith and goldsmith. Here is another of his silver pieces that I really love. The gemstone is green turquoise.


Are you going to do another article about crewel stitches in yarn?

I certainly intend to do just that, but probably not until winter. It has been so hot here that it is uncomfortable to even think about yarns! I have a stack of partially finished projects that I work on when we get a cooler morning, but lately those have been few and far between. In the meantime, why don't you take a favorite design or stitch that you have done in yarn and do it again in floss? You get different results and may really like them.  I would encourage all people who do only floss or only yarn to "trade off" occasionally. You may find that it refreshes your interest in crewel or other forms of embroidery. Good luck.

Are you going to do any more animal prints? It seems like it has been a long time since you showed a new one.

I will have to check to see if I have shown all the ones that I have finished. I have a couple in progress, but they are not ready to be made into prints. That is a lengthy process. Right now my studio is pretty cluttered. I need to get materials put away and to sort and file all the things that have accumulated over the past few months. There are lots of those! J. D. is currently working on Extras and catching up on photographic work,  so printmaking is not currently on his agenda either. This is another activity which may best be left until winter. Please keep watching. We will catch up eventually — I hope!

Are you going to do any more of the short features on women artists of the past or the present?

I hope to. I have several lists of both past (some of them so far back that it will surprise you) and the present. The current ones are scattered around the world. I have been featuring them as a part of a question and answer article like this one, but perhaps I need to do a feature article comparing and contrasting some of them. That's something to think about. Thank you for the idea! Here is a portrait by Mary Cassatt, one of the women I plan to feature.

Can you give me an example of a haiku to fit a butterfly outline? They would be done by seventh-graders. (This is from our most recent post on how to use the teaching articles in our Extras.)

We are talking about a couple of different things here. The haiku poems were never meant to be shaped to fit the butterfly outline. Haiku is short and requires a definite arrangement of syllables. I chose to have them put on the butterfly shapes in their traditional form because — like butterflies — they are delicate.

What you may be thinking of is a shaped poem, but not a traditional haiku. You can also make a symmetrical poem which does not rhyme. These are composed of a title word followed by descriptive terms. Notice how the last half of the poem uses words and ideas that are the opposite of the first half. These are a little "tricky' at first, but once the students understand what is going on, they produce some thoughtful and creative results. In the first poem, there is a contrast drawn between the aspen grove, a large place created by Nature, compared with a flower bed, a small place created by a person.
 

 

The formal rules for this format are as follows:

• Lines 1 and 7: a noun for each: the two nouns opposites (antonyms) such as hot/cold, boy/girl, war/peace, etc.
• Lines 2 and 6: 2 adjectives that describe their respective nouns
• Lines 3 and 5: 3 participles that describe some aspect of the respective nouns
• Line 4: 2 words or a two-word phrase referring to the first word, a punctuation mark (semi-colon, colon, or dash), and 2 words or a 2-word phrase referring to the last word.
  

Haiku is a form of Japanese poetry that has retained its popularity for more than twelve centuries. Traditionally it is a three-line poem with 5 syllables in the first line, 7 in the second, and 5 in the third. The subject has usually dealt with Nature or personal feelings, but modern ones may take up any subject, serious or frivolous. A punctuation  mark or two make a break in the rhythm, usually in the second line, and there are usually two words that underline a strong difference — like "tenderness" and "bramble" in Issa's poem below.

There is a story about the great haiku poet Basho that is one of my favorites. He was walking in the fields with one of his better students when they came across a large group of red dragonflies. Thinking he would show off his wit, the student said to the master, "If we tore the wings off red dragonflies, we would have chili peppers." "No! "exclaimed the master angrily. Humbled, the student asked Basho what he had said that was so wrong. The master said: "Poetry must never be destructive; it must be constructive and uplifting. What you should have said was. 'If we could give wings to chili peppers, they might become dragonflies.' " The student went on to be a popular court poet. But he was never as good as Basho.
 
Here are translated haiku samples from the master, Basho;  my favorite poet, Issa;  and an untranslated one from a rank amateur.

    

    In the twilight rain                       
these breathtaking hibiscus —               
    A lovely sunset.  

                        Matsuo Basho

 

          Everything I
touch with tenderness, alas,
    pricks like a bramble.
                        Kobayashi Issa

     Fingers on keyboard
hesitant; will they produce
     mind-polished verses?
                       Annake

 

Please keep your questions and suggestions coming, even if I don't reply for a while.  They keep me thinking along lines I may have neglected or perhaps  not thought about. I really appreciate them.

Stay safe and well.

 This post by Annake's Garden is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.