Sketchbook - it's coming on

Daniel, my son asked me why I am still making sketchbooks - after all I finished my last course a long time ago now. I told him that this is the way I like to work, to develop ideas and keep records. He said he like them.

My recent work is housed in an old diary that came from my husband's work. I used it to keep the family on track. Now I can recycle it and use it as a sketchbook. Because it was a well made diary it has padded covers and is lovely to handle. I cover each page with recycled scrap paper so that my previous appointments don't get in the way! of the detail in the sketchbook.

Here I show a page where I am trying out different stitches with silver wire through cardboard. The designs are based on the sitchery used by Omanis on their khunjars, those are shown on other pages in my sketchbook. My work differs in that I am working on stiff board and they work on leather, I punch the holes using a sewing machine and they punch every hole by hand.

I am going to take this idea further and design stitches, on the sewing machine, based on the Omani designs and work with them. Who knows this could lead, some time in the future, to mechanisation for the Omani embroiderers.