My grandmother passed along to me dozens of chair doilies – which in, her youth and probably into adulthood she hand made. You will probably recognize them as something that was on the back and arms of your grandparent’s chair as a means to protect the fabric, or perhaps under a vase or collectible on the dresser. There really aren’t many modern day uses for these doilies, and so my pile of them is just a fond remembrance of a grandmother I loved very much.
Each doily looks perfect to me. The stitching is even, the spacing seems insanely perfect, and I am sure that I could not possibly create something like that with string. As an artisan I am sure my grandmother would have had dozens of stitches she wasn’t happy with, perhaps many that she pulled apart and redid – essentially using an eraser for her work. Decades later, I wouldn’t recognize the frustrating stitches and I bet she wouldn’t either.
As an experiment, I thought it would be fun to use the doily as inspiration and see how it could be represented in pen and ink, on a 10.5 Zentangle Opus tile.
During the process of capturing the essence of the home spun handiwork, I drew so many lines I was not happy with while the ink was drying on the paper. There were so many sections I immediately wished I had taken in a different direction, so many curves that weren’t curvy enough, or lines that were too long. Keeping in mind the Zentangle mantra of “One stroke at a time,” I would take a deep breath, lighten the grip on my pen, find a comfortable position and just keep going, one line, one curve, one stitch at a time.
As with any labor of love – taking a break, a little space and some time away can do wonders for how you feel. Setting aside this piece for a while and revisiting – all I see is the completed whole. I know how I got there, taking it slow and step by step, and being forgiving of myself and perceived imperfections. Maybe one day someone will look at this and think they couldn’t possibly create something like it – then they will gather their tools, whatever format they may be in – and get started.
