New Wrist Cuffs
Off the Cuff, is the phrase occurred to me for a title for this post about three new wrist cuffs. When I looked up the meaning, “casually and spontaneously” came up. That’s perfect because that is just how I approached making them. The process of going through favorite pieces of fabric saved through time was all about choosing the ones that jumped out. Surprisingly the colors were bright and not necessarily “matching” my usual color palette for painting. No matter!
3 new Cuffs, Talisman for Stargazers, Goldfinches and Earth by Kathleen O’Brien
The slowness of choosing, designing, stitching is therapeutic. The attention to detail and narrow focus is grounding. Creating a 3-d object with care and with thoughts of how comfortable it will feel around a wrist, warm and supportive of small wrists. Also, prayers imbued that the owner will feel in their own power when they wear it. I wish I had counted the number of stitches, with embroidery thread and beading thread, that would be the number of prayers!
Talisman for Goldfinches, cuff by Kathleen O’Brien
Talisman for Goldfinches
Antique brass beads, antique orange and blue whiteheart seed beads, antique jet beads, vintage German buttons, embroidered Bird and butterfly fabric and Kaffe Fassett fabric.
Talisman for Goldfinches, cuff by Kathleen O’Brien
Talisman for Goldfinches, cuff by Kathleen O’Brien
Talisman for Stargazers
Antique jet beads, glass and silver dangles, appliqued and embroidered vintage and Kaffe Fassett fabrics, Antique glass button
Talisman for Stargazers, cuff by Kathleen O’Brien
Talisman for Stargazers, cuff by Kathleen O’Brien
Talisman for Stargazers, process, cuff by Kathleen O’Brien
Talisman for Earth
Tibetan turquoise (that I’ve had since the beginning of bead love, a trade at Karma Dzong Christmas Fair, c.1974), brilliant tubular and triangular fire beads, antique Christmas beads, Swarovski crystals, antique brass button, embroidered felt by Laverne Zabielski, linen.
Talisman for Earth, cuff by Kathleen O’Brien
Talisman for Earth, cuff by Kathleen O’Brien
Talisman for Earth, process, cuff by Kathleen O’Brien
Talisman for Earth, process, cuff by Kathleen O’Brien
Talisman for Earth, process, cuff by Kathleen O’Brien
Talisman for Earth, process, cuff by Kathleen O’Brien
Talisman for Earth, process, cuff by Kathleen O’Brien
Talisman for Earth, process, cuff by Kathleen O’Brien
Talisman for Earth, process, cuff by Kathleen O’Brien
Talisman for Earth, cuff by Kathleen O’Brien
Warikiku
To back up, I want to say it started this winter with Warikiku embroidery in a Sashiko Lab workshop. Warikiku is a traditional design of sashiko which is elegant and beautiful. Kiku represents chrysanthemum in Japanese. One bag is a receptacle for thread, which you can see in some pictures I took during the process. Having a handmade item adds to the pleasure of the task. the smaller one shown below is used for art pens.
Warikiku bags by Kathleen O’Brien
Talisman for Stargazers, process, cuff by Kathleen O’Brien
These three new cuffs will premier at the Spring Into Art Open Studio on April 23. After that (if they are still available!) I will add them to the website for sale, along with new necklaces and bracelets, to those who cannot be here for the event.
It’s been eight years since I wrote about some other cuffs, Talisman for Sparrows and Talisman for Honey Bees, I referred to as Wearable 3-D Collage. Read about that here! Or read about Talisman for Ageing Gracefully, how it featured Laverne Zabielski, her fabric and another great Open Studio.