Ink sketches of crows

Been wanting to combine my rust/tea dyed fabrics with bird images in a larger project – mainly crows and or hawks. So I’ve been researching and sketching crows as a start.

Drawing with thread on my sewing machine was my first idea.
Playing with tensions, stitches and rough drawing with machine

This was fun but… even though I want a rough sketchy line, I quickly saw it will take a while to gain control of this as a drawing medium. At the same time I’ve been stitching patterns and marks in the small dyed book I’ve been working on and thought I’d try this. More what I want and I can work more free form with out preliminary drawings on the fabric. But still have a ways to go…

Stitches in small book and first go at hand drawing crows with stitches

My other idea is to block print on fabric but I really want to have various drawings rather than a repeating image. The work forming in my head is about layers of experience, the passage of time and changes to our lives. The birds are currently observers in this process of life and decay and rebirth.