can-can

best in show sounded better than 1st place, so that's what i went with. i was being inspired by the more daring and colourful of the victorian tastes, as well as guavas. because the eyepatch is worn on a 3-dimensional surface, you can really see the beetle green backing fabric and deeper pink sheer ribbon peeking through from underneath the top layer; it made me think of petticoats and crinoline, which i love. this is one of my favorites.

in all their variety

i was searching through my ribbon drawers to find material for my latest eyepatch, and started sorting them a little better (purple in the pink drawer! peach which should be in the orange drawer! is this brown?!). the aubergine ribbons looked particularly lovely, so i had to take a snapshot of them. i love the dusky cornflower running into deepest amethyst, with the areas of mauve and fuchsia playing amuck along the borders. so many colours get filed under one name; there's such diversity to them, they're all deserving of being distinguished.

here's a sneak peek of my 5th eyepatch, it has something to do with ribbons...

buzzzzz

finally found the pearls needed for the head! here's my honey and bee inspired eyepatch; a golden glow which is so warm compared to the weather outside.

i'm still contemplating which one to work on next; i guess it depends on the materials i have on hand.

honey bees are worth more than gold

i've found my new favorite drink, uji shimizu and cold almond milk; matcha, sugar, and milk, whisked to a frothy green. i tried it hot last night, and it was okay, but today i made it with cold milk and it is so very yummy!

i've started work on another eyepatch. the theme with this one is honey, and more specifically, the honey bee. i never really liked honey until i came to the south and tried the local tupelo honey; it's very sweet, similar to simple syrup or agave nectar. that was about seven years ago. i've since acquired a taste for acacia, sourwood, star thistle, and winter white honeys, as well as an appreciation for the bees which create them.

it's difficult to imagine what will happen to the honey bee in the future, and it's hard to not jump in and try to save them once you learn of the bad husbandry they've fallen under. a couple of years ago i read this controversial post about the honey bee, and it made me think. i've since learned more from radio casts, books, and magazine articles, but everyone needs a starting point. however, the book which made me love the honey bee was chalice, by robin mckinley. you may think it's hard to love an insect, but it isn't, not really.

i'm not quite finished with the bees on my eyepatch, i'm looking for black fresh water pearls for their heads, the ones i do have, being drilled in the wrong spot.

seashells on the seashore

the third eyepatch is a grouping of shell buttons and pearls. it was inspired by the artwork of nick cave. originally i had included the green crystal in it, but wasn't entirely won over; i like the piece more now, without the visual focuser of the blue green color. however, i maintained the hue in the backing fabric.

abalone and mother of pearl buttons are amongst my favorite; they're simple but lovely with the subtle rainbows which play across their surface.

progression

the next one in the series of eyepatches is about buttons. i love abalone shell buttons, they're so shimmery and opalescent. they're to be set against a pewter grey silk, with a grey green stripped silk lining. the green crystal is still up in the air, but i like the pearls spread throughout.

initially i wanted to use round buttons, but i came across these square and rectangular buttons at a knitting shop the other day and thought the effect could be interesting when paired with the few octagon and round buttons i already had.

patches, patches, whose got the patches?

so, the story goes, i was at the eye doctor's and i thought i would have to wear an eyepatch; all because of a pesky tear duct. i looked at the ones available and my options were black, black, or black. blech. so, as a result of my findings, i decided i would make my own eyepatches and make a diverse range of them which i could theoretically choose from depending on how i was feeling. nobody really wants to look like a pirate day to day, or an extra from kill bill. some would say it was vanity, i will say it's a chance to create art where there is a void.

the first which i created is based on a peacock. i love the little feathers from the body of the bird, so green and shimmery, with hues of bronze and blue as it moves. the tail feathers are always associated with eyes, so it's only fitting that i embroider one for the center of the patch. i love this one. the bronze silk which was in the sneek peek photo was used as lining for the inside of the patch, it picks up on the bronze colors at the base of the feathers.

pussywillows fascinate me. i love to find softness in plants, it's the tactile quality of them; this one in particular is as fine as any silk velvet. this one evolved as i was laying it out. my sketch was of decreasing sizes of pussywillows, ending in the middle. but, as i was adding the third row, i saw the eye of an owl. so, i went with it. using the downy feathers i had snipped from the peacock feathers, i lined the eye, and created an iris from a swarovski crystal button i've been hoarding for nine years, and a blue tinted abalone shell button. the addition of the pink swarovksi crystal for the inner tear duct was the finishing touch. this eyepatch is lined in a pale blue dupioni silk, tacked down with light brown crystals, like a star studded dawn.

luckily, my eye healed and i didn't have to wear an eyepatch after all! but, i'm still pursuing the potential in them.