As far back as 50,000 years ago our Paleolithic hunter-gatherer ancestors were taking needles in hand to stitch together clothing. What was invented out of necessity developed over millennia into a practice for making functional objects, to communicate information such as social status and cultural, for creative expression, and as a way of developing and refining skills.

As we continue in that rich tradition, what are the ways in which we can develop a daily hand-stitching practice that is meaningful to us in the 21st century? How can we use hand stitching as a means of expression, a mindfulness practice, an opportunity for skill development, and even a way of commemorating events or marking the passage of time?

This workshop is designed to introduce and explore hand-stitching materials and techniques that are unfamiliar or not-yet-appealing to you and to delve deeper into materials and stitches that you love. Additionally, it’s an opportunity to explore some of the many ways to develop a daily fiber art practice that can broaden and deepen your artistic life and bring you some of the many benefits of having a daily practice. Explorations include ways to conceptually structure your practice and ways to physically structure the fruits of your practice. Exercises will be in the format of stitches, written words, and some sketches.

Here are just a few of the topics we’ll address:

·Why adopt a daily stitch or fiber art practice?
The value of daily rituals/practices; fiber “sketches”; do-able vs. ideal practices, etc.
Examples of a wide range of contemporary artists’ daily practices
What do you hope to gain?
Deciding how to structure your own practice and exploring a range of daily stitch practices organized by prompts, themes, materials, imagery, etc.
Sampling various approaches

Lisa Binkley • www.lisabinkley.com • lsbinkley@gmail.com

Materials List: https://www.ayafiberstudio.com/workshop-materials-links

STITCHES IN TIME; DEVELOPING A DAILY FIBER ART PRACTICE