Sunday, March 21, 2010

Embroidery Beginnings


The coolest thing about embroidery, by far, are these awesome golden crane scissors. They remind me of The Decemberists album The Crane Wife. Embroidery isn't nearly as easy as it looked, but I'm learning it's like that with most things. I'm amazed at how awkward these stitches can feel and look. But I think the idea is very interesting. It's really drawing on fabric with thread, instead of using paints on canvas. A very cheesy thought indeed, but I've always wanted to have the ability to pick up a paint brush and create a beautiful impressionistic landscape to frame and hang on my walls. This is how I get to feel like an artist.

Practice, practice, practice.

I saw two really good movies over the weekend. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas was heart wrenching but excellent. Everyone in the room was crying at the end. The sickening horror of what inhumanity took place during Nazi Germany is hard to shake. What's worse is that mass murders are happening all over the world and it's not just a thing of the past. We also watched Precious which was very difficult but managed to bring up excellent points about overcoming hate, poverty, and abuse. I wouldn't give my job up for anything in the world, because I have the privilege of helping, even if it's only teaching a student how to write a sentence or divide a large number. That's precious to me.