Here is my finished piece for January - Admiration.It is based on a rangoli design from Mandana, Gujarat, India. From the book "Designs and Motifs from India" by Marty Noble.
A rangoli is a colourful design made on the floor near the entrance to a house to welcome guests. At Diwali, Hindus draw bright rangoli to encourage the goddess Lakshmi to enter their houses. Traditionally the floor painting is only done by women. Red sand and chalk powder are used to make the designs. They are also now found on block printed textiles.
This is my homage to the countless, nameless craftswomen in India who embroider our skirts, bags and cushion covers.
I am pleased that I kept to the colour scheme and have used a couple of TAST stitches from last year - pistil and arrowhead, with couching and beads. The background is fern green sheer over purple linen. It is 9x9 cms (3.5x3.5 inches)
I confess that this was to be the centrepiece in a larger piece - but life got in the way this month - and I have also signed up for Sharon B's Sumptuous Surfaces class (more in the next post) so this was as far as I got.
Still I am very pleased with the result and may use it as it is - or add it to the WISP pile - as part of my original design, when time permits!
I am looking forward to the February challenge.
