the blue path - lost & found

If ever there were a tale of a treacherous journey across the seas, then this is it! And how very apt, considering the imagined stories that have inspired these works.

Let's back track a bit... Renilde De Peuter of AT SWIM-TWO-BIRDS is a wonderfully talented gal who makes all sorts of things, and is probably most well known, particularly through the blogosphere, for her delectably poetic needlework. I fell in love with her practice a little while ago, posting a small example from her worm hole series here, and have continued to follow her career. So it was to my absolute delight to discover that Mr Kitly, a super fine shop and gallery space on Sydney Rd in Brunswick (beautiful wares by the way... driven by a strong Japanese aesthetic), has also taken a fancy to "our" Renilde, and now carries a range of her mobiles, pin cushions, cushions & pot holders. It's no surprise that I was even MORE delighted to hear that Renilde had been invited to participate in the exhibition 'Denim' at Mr Kitly, a material investigation into the use of denim in craft, art and design curated by Dell Stewart. All the planets seemed to be aligning!

But alas, disaster struck. Renilde's contribution 'The Blue Path' didn't arrive from Belgium, and infact became officially 'lost'. Terrible stuff.

Fast forward... two and a half months after the exhibition opening, lo and behold, Renilde's package finally arrives! Fortunately, the exhibition that was scheduled only occupied the floor and the middle of the room, leaving the back wall available to hold a kind of satellite exhibition dedicated solely to her 'The Blue Path' series. The lovely folk at Mr Kitly even held a scumptious afternoon tea of homemade goodies to celebrate.

I popped in the following week, and it was sensational to see her thread & fabric pieces in the flesh. A couple had already sold, including the large cross stitch (which was so great), but fortunately one of my faves was still available - one of the 'St Elmo's Fire' squares - check out the top image. There was no doubt that the right thing to do (despite of course a questionable bank balance!) was to purchase it without delay! It is beautiful and delicate to handle and such a well considered size (kinda large denim pocket scale) - with two tiny little hoops made from cotton to hang it. How lucky am I.

> Renilde's beautiful blog
> Renilde's flickr
> Mr Kitly
> Maker's profile @ Mr Kitly
> 'Denim' exhibition blog