Boundaries, Housebound
Considering objects and portals
Greetings from Vermont,
Grateful to be living here, especially since, for a variety of reasons, including a nasty case of bronchitis, we’ve been housebound…
and living a very quiet life, noticing things like salt and pepper shakers.
But what a gift to truly settle, not in terms of putting things away and figuring out where to hang this picture or place that piece of small furniture (which we have not been doing because we have not been feeling well), but in terms of getting to know a place more intimately - - like the way snow blocks light from coming through the skylights in our bathrooms, and how the impact shifts when there is sun.
Boundary: 1
a line that marks the limits of an area, as a dividing line between properties or countries or the demarkation between glass and wooden frame on a window;
a limit of a subject or sphere of activity, as between yourself and other people or yourself and a project you are working on, like photo essay in Substack.
I had never liked the glass lights in our bathroom, but when viewed at this particular angle (opening photo) and seen as carriers for natural light and space, they become something else entirely.
Or the way, when zooming into a photograph and shifting the settings a bit by enhancing texture and clarity, a gray dark day becomes entrancing…
and a sunny blue-sky moment becomes infused with nuance unapparent before I made the choice to see this week’s images in Black and White…or really, shades of gray - - A boundary, or constraint, I created to see what would happen if I hung out a bit longer with the images with which I’d been working. What if I…?
As you know from last week’s post, Embodied Fiber, I’ve been re-imagining my wedding dress, starting with the branches of a tree emerging up the back of the train.
It all started with a ‘what if I…’ years ago with a different dress at a different time (Re-Framing Whitman - A Goodbye Story): What if I re-make an object, allowing it be a portal to something unexplored or unexpected?
By embroidering a tree trunk, in the way I’ve drawn trees for years, I am creating an imaginary scene on a very real object that is mine, but not mine.
Can something truly be yours if you only wear it for a day and the energy of that day is busy and distracted?
Do the dress and I really know each other? I am impatient to experience what it has in store for me.
Given my history with carpal tunnel and trigger finger, there are limits to how much I can sew on any given day, though. I am bounded here not just by the shape and size of the dress itself, but also by my physical limitations.
And yesterday, when I was finally able to go back to the Ottauquechee River, I was struck by the structures of the trees and how they created a boundary between me and the river - - blocking my view, perhaps.
Or, are they in fact the view and the river just the backdrop?
And then there was this leaf nestled in a frozen footprint on the path, it’s veins so like the brown stems of the tree I’m sewing into life, though in this image, which is black and white, you can’t see that. These veins are straight and my stems are curvy.
But when I look at this leaf and the image of my embroidered tree in shades of gray, it becomes less about the structures themselves and more about the spaces between and how much those spaces have in common.2
What do you think about lines, boundaries and spaces between?
As always, thank you for sharing your time in this space with me.
With gratitude for you being you,
Lyn
PS: Given all that D and I have going on, Lilly is taking a vacation at her favorite ‘spa,’ so there’s no walking photo this week (sorry Sarah!). We miss her!!
Thankfully, though, there is always the compost and this glorious image of apple peals (we made applesauce yesterday):
Love the lines and shapes of the peals and cores, especially how they communicate with the pine needles on the ground, outside the bucket’s boundary, but thankfully within the boundary of the image. So cool.
If you are inspired by this post or this image, please share with others.
And if you are so included, feel free to leave a comment below. I keep meaning to get into the Substack Chat and Notes thing, but as I mentioned, D and I have been laid up.
Finally, thank you for already subscribing and if you are a paying subscriber, thank you so much for your support, but if not, feel free to show your support for my ongoing creative adventures by connecting here!
Boundaries have fascinated me for years, both physical and emotional. As someone with ADHD and high sensitivity to over-stimulating situations, boundaries are essential to my survival. I’m excited to explore their power in the coming weeks!
In my last two posts, Embodied Space and Embodied Fiber, I considered the substance of air and space and how powerful it is to create space and room for air, whether in a studio or on the surface of fabric.
As you can imagine, I am eager to return to my studio and get back to work - - both with the space clearing project and with all my other work, some of which I can do at home, but most of which benefits from the particular energy of that particular place. Hopefully next week…
I am also thinking about the idea of boundaries right now because there is just too much negative energy ‘out there’ highlighting differences between us instead of finding all that we share that can bring us together for common goals.
As such, some boundaries can clearly be more helpful than others! So much to explore.
Thanks for this re”mind”er that mindfulness is available anytime wherever we are. ❤️