Adaptability
cloth after several steps in the process of creating colour, texture, mark
Thank you for joining me here for this quiet little conversation, taking a moment to be with these thoughts, words and images.
Last weekend I unspooled the last of the cloth from a 100 meter roll and went online to place an order for more. What I found was none of this cloth available anywhere. At all. In the world. There are a few cryptic references to "may be restocked later". As accustomed to supply chain issues, and availability shenanigans as we've become during the pandemic, this one is um...quite challenging...I'm not sure yet if the manufacturer has discontinued this type of cloth, or it's a matter of the resources to make the cloth are delayed or...
Thru the pandemic we've learned to use different ingredients, different brands (toilet paper I'm looking at you), or just stopped using things we can't get any more. It's been an adventure of sorts to navigate these changes, one I suspect will become a more usual part of our world.
In the case of my cloth, I confess this is causing me significant concern...the nature of the cloth and the ways I've learned to create colour and texture, the densely stitched threads...what if I can't find a suitable cloth...how will I create these paintings...
In order to feel like I'm doing something about this dilemma, I've ordered a couple of meters of a possible replacement cloth to assess the suitability for my process. Hopefully it arrives in time to do some tests before the summer temperatures are only a sweet memory.
For now, I'm reminding myself that I am resilient, and adaptable. I'm regulating my nervous system with the things that sustain me...walking in the forest, sketching with watercolours at a local beach, and remembering trips to my favourite place in the world, the beaches of the Esowista Peninsula on the territories of the Tla-o-qui-aht Nation
And as always, I want to express my gratitude to be living and working on the ancestral & unceded territories of the hən̓̓qəmin̓əm̓ and Sḵwx̱wú7mesh speaking peoples.I honour the incredible depths of grace, courage and perseverance of Indigenous Peoples, and look to them as an example as they find their voices amidst the noise and obfuscation of colonization.
until next time,
Mardell