Exit

Exit, pursued by a bear...

From The Winter's Tale,  gleefully pounced on in following centuries to prove that everything Shakespeare wrote did not plumb the depths of the human spirit...it was, however, only a stage direction and not actual language used in the play.

I suppose I must be counting  the dinosaur in the lead as a bird of sorts.

Nelly Alvarez Aranda

This is some of the enchanting work of Nelly Alvarez Aranda. Here work combines materials and techniques, and much of it is on the theme of the interaction of humans and the natural world. If you would like to see more of her surprising and delightful work, her blog is dibujos en el agua 

Mother Lisa

The image at left is one of many 

on the megamonalisa site , 

link and image

very kindly provided 

by mum at coucou c'est moi.

The Lapwing

This lapwing doth run away with the shell on his head.

said by Horatio of the character Osric, who is sent to propose the fatal duel with Laertes. 

It's the strangest place to insert comic relief, right before it all falls down. The phrase refers to the fact that lapwings were said to be so eager to to hatch that the leaped out of the nest with the shell still adhering, therefore Osric, with his considerable posturing, is thought to be wet behind the ears.

The lapwing is so called for its trick of leading predators from its nest by dragging one wing along the ground as if it were injured. This blog is being given over to the birds for next while - please let me know if you are posting any birds, or if you see any, and I will link to them.

In the mean time, here are some birds observed recently:

a fiercely contemplative bird, on Random Shots

A gentler contemplation on A Room of One's Own

Hamlet, Act 5, Scene 2

Good night sweet prince,

And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.

           - Horatio

Hamlet, Act 5, Scene 2

Set me the stoops of wine upon that table.

If Hamlet give the first or second hit,

Or quit in answer of the third exchange,

Let all the battlements their ordnance fire.

          - Claudius

I think this will end in tears.

Couve do Mar

Here is the piece "Mademoiselle L joue au Baccarat" on the Couve do Mar blog. This constitutes a chapter in the story of Mademoiselle L - she is also recorded in in other pieces as having played at other games of chance and having been on Safari. Other characters and places are introduced in other necklaces, or "droplets", as their maker calls them (there is one titled "London Subway revisited"). 

Beth Hahn

Beth Hahn knits small scale sweaters, in part as a way to figure out the physics of sweaters for humans. She also does lovely, sensitive watercolor illustrations. 

You can download the pattern for the sweater on the little creature above at Ravelry, linked from her blog, Willow Rosa Knits.

The Lazy Bird catches the worm

For details, see video on the feltbug blog.

Hamlet, Act 5, Scene 1

Sweets to the sweet, Farewell.

Gertrude at Ophelia's grave.

The Fabric of Meditation

This fable in cloth is by Sara Lechner at Fabric of Meditation. Many of her pieces seem to have narrative and (very dear) characters involved in journeys or in contemplation. Her work is inspirational and the components seem to flow together to make a whole. This piece, which Sara says is about both the process of maturation and about how we make our own prisons, reminds me of William Blake's

A robin redbreast in a cage

Puts all Heaven in a rage

     

and also of  Yeats' Holy Thursday

'Twas on Holy Thursday, their innocent faces clean,

Came children walking two and two, in red, and blue, and green...

Hamlet, Act 5, Scene 1

Alas, Poor Yorick.

You will need to click to enlarge to get a good look at the sexton in the background.

Stick in Brisbane

Paula at The Beauty of Life placed 

the MacMoe stick in a Brisbane Park. 

Paula goes boldly where noone has 

gone before in a

stitching sense -

experimental and might I say, 

frequently tiny. 

Her children get 

into the act, 

mostly willingly.

Manuales Canigo

A noble steed and a cheeky mouse

Two of the creations on the delightful Manuales Canigo blog. Parents, wouldn't you love to send your children to Cristina Moreno's classes at the Canigo School? She teaches her students to make their own wonderful art objects using repurposed materials. My Spanish is quite rudimentary, but she uses the phrase "trayectoria creativa" - how beautiful to think of creativity as a flight. More inspiration on her blog - Parents may be able to find a few projects for long summer days here, even without going to Barcelona. 

Hamlet, Act 4, Scene 7

One woe doth tread upon another's heel.

So fast they follow: your sister's drowned,

Laertes.

    - Gertrude

The Tiniest Emperor?/Holdfast

An assemblage showing Napoleon holding the reins of his empire (more on my web site). It was pretty much inspired by the words on the old needle packet at left, which I was reminded of when I saw a photo of a piece by Ali Forbes in an exhibit at the Royal college of Art in London, incorporating Holdfast bicycle tape, which wittily incorporates a reference to Picasso's  bicycle bull, on the Feltbug blog. Is it the same company making a different product a century later, or just a British trope?

And if there's a tinier emperor, don't hesitate to let me know in the comments section.

Dog Daisy Chains

Here are are two joyfully dancing protozoans which also suggests illuminated capitals from the book of Kells (with a little Miro thrown in), the top is a brooch and the one at bottom is for display on canvas - seen on Dog Daisy Chains. I love their organic lively quality. Her wonderfully witty creations are available in her Etsy Store, and she has tutorials  in Machine embroidery and silk paper making on her site.

Hamlet, Act 4, Scene 5

How now, Ophelia?

   - Gertrude

Hamlet, Act 3, Scene 4

Look here upon this picture, and on this,

The counterfeit presentment of two brothers.

See what a grace was seated on this brow,

Hyperion's curls, the front of Jove himself,

An eye like Mars, to threaten and command...

Here is your husband like a mildewed ear...

Claudius was one fugly dude.