stitched islands

after completing two demanding pieces of work I have been taking some time to explore and play with other bits and pieces. I like to have an ongoing, unplanned piece which i can easily pick up and put down - these often develop organically as experiments or samplers, but they also provide thinking space and time to reflect and ponder 

my current stitch doodle is vaguely planned as a book cover, I took it along to a workshop on “stitching round and round” with janet edmonds  - this was about the works she produced in response to a 53 mile circular walk, completed in stages with a fellow textile artist 

i haven’t done the walk but used the workshop to begin my own stitched version of the route as a part of my current stitch doodle - it fits in quite well as the piece seems to have become a collection of stitched islands

with Janet’s encouragement i found myself becoming more adventurous with my choice of colour - i tend to stay with toning variegated, subdued combinations, but this time I added some bright accents in solid colours - not sure if they really work, but they do draw the eye - this is also prompting me to go back to the parts i stitched earlier, adding more bright details - I have often felt that i wanted to pile on more layers of stitch/colour/details but something else in me urges restraint - maybe this piece can be a sampler for more extravagant stitching…..?