Into My Arms

Just before Christmas I got a lovely commission to turn some Nick Cave lyrics from this song into an embroidery as a Christmas present. It's such a privilege to be able to contribute to special moments between loved ones, and, in this case, to create something with such personal significance for the two people involved. I love stitching lyrics and poetry with special meaning, so if you have a similar commission in mind don't hesitate to contact me at katerolison@googlemail.com.

Commission Me

I am now accepting embroidery commissions! Please send your ideas for your commission to katerolison@googlemail.com and I will get back to you with a quote and time frame. Above are examples of commissions, Royal School of Needlework assignments, and personal embroidery projects I have completed previously. I look forward to hearing from you!

Press Pause Potion

This may not be surprising coming from someone who struggles with anxiety, but I sometimes find it difficult to r e l a x. To accept that I don't have to be 100% productive 100% of the time. To accept that downtime and self care actually make me more productive. To be in the moment, without worrying about what comes next.

In that spirit, this week I completed the Press Pause Potion. It is filled with tea bags, the terribly British signifier of taking a break and wellmaking. The bottle itself is a 1960s third-of-a-pint school milk bottle (got to have milk in your tea!) containing an embroidered ribbon that says simply "Downtime is important".

Remember you can get involved too, via the hashtag #secretsofselfpreservation, by writing about a simple way you plan to, or already do, take care of yourself. Alternatively, you can create your own embroidered (or written on paper) potion - just remember to include the hashtag #secretsofselfpreservation along with your snaps of it.

Emergency Glitter Potion

This week I celebrated my twenty fourth birthday. This meant two things: cocktails (oh so many cocktails) and extreme levels of glittery fabulousness. I've come to realise that even when I don't have a special event such as a birthday to look forward to, the smallest of gestures can really alter the way I feel about myself. Such as painting my nails iridescent twinkling shades. It's a small treat and act of self care that makes it that little bit easier to get through the week.

And so, my potion this week reads "Persevere and apply glitter liberally". The phrase is accompanied by a tiny vial of emergency glitter, and I've taken the liberty of bedazzling the potion tag.

I must say I feel a good deal better than I did this time last week; I seem to have taken my mantra, "It will be ok" to heart. I'm sure it really will be.

Remember you can get involved too, via the hashtag #secretsofselfpreservation, by writing about a simple way you plan to, or already do, take care of yourself. Alternatively, you can create your own embroidered (or written on paper) potion - just remember to include the hashtag #secretsofselfpreservation along with your snaps of it.

Cadbury Purple Mantra Potion

This week, as a reward for getting through a particularly dreaded day, I promised myself a small reward; a bar of Cadbury's Dairy Milk. 

It was my childhood favourite chocolate bar, and hence there is something deeply comforting about that familiar sweet, rich and creamy flavour and texture. And the colour; Willy Wonka purple;  could anything be more nostalgic?

 

So (small amounts of) chocolate (like glitter) are a coping mechanism. My visual diary has been a help, too; every day this week I have been scribbling the mantra "It will be ok" in it in a hypnotising array of colours, behind which the ghost of a potion sketch from the previous page looms. However bad I feel when I start writing this phrase, by the time I have finished I invariably feel better. The simple act of choosing which colour to use next is calming and gently stimulating. The phrase itself, like Dairy Milk, is deeply comforting. It may not be wonderful; it may not be spectacular; but it will be ok.

 I combined the two in this week's Apotheké #secretsofselfpreservation potion. Cadbury purple ribbon is the backdrop to a ragged, battered, yet cheerfully coloured cross stitched "It will be ok" and accompanied in its equally bright bottle by two tiny bars of Dairy Milk, in case of emergencies.

Remember you can get involved too, via the hashtag #secretsofselfpreservation, by writing about a simple way you plan to, or already do, take care of yourself. Alternatively, you can create your own embroidered (or written on paper) potion - just remember to include the hashtag #secretsofselfpreservation along with your snaps of it.

ROAR don't mewl

During this second week of Apotheké I have certainly been in need of self care. Anxiety can creep up on you very suddenly, without reason or warning, and throw your life into temporary disarray. Making the simplest decisions becomes a mammoth task. You have no energy or desire to face the world. Which makes taking care of yourself imperative, and being brave a necessity, in order to get through your days as painlessly and "normally" as possible.

Perhaps this is why I make so much art about being brave. A phrase that has been helping me as I prepare for the following week is "Courage, dear heart". It is spoken by Aslan to Lucy in the Chronicles of Narnia - and being a lion, of course, Aslan is the symbol of bravery, a symbol I have employed in my work before (particularly in On Being Soft). The phrase comforts and calms me, and reminds me that it is courageous to even go about my daily life when I feel like this. It is brave to persevere when you are afraid, even if what you are afraid of is illogical and inconsequential. 

I embroidered "Courage, dear heart" on to an orange floral ribbon; orange, because artist Judy Chicago wrote in her Autobiography of a Year that orange is the colour of anxiety. I agree with her; the colour is hot and acidic, and captures something of the sheer panic of anxiety. And so the potion's label, "Roar don't mewl potion", is orange, too. Autobiography of a Year must have been working its way around my subconscious for a few years, because Apotheké too is an autobiography of a year.

What else could I accompany the potion with than a miniature big cat; perfect for a lion in training.

Remember you can get involved too, via the hashtag #secretsofselfpreservation, by writing about a simple way you plan to, or already do, take care of yourself. Alternatively, you can create your own embroidered (or written on paper) potion - just remember to include the hashtag #secretsofselfpreservation along with your snaps of it.

Courage, Dear Heart

I've been filling the pages of my visual diary, yet neglecting to post them here. I've also been collecting a ream of photographs over the past few months, so the pages of the diary are in no way chronological.

They feature Hanecdote stickers and a little letter from the woman behind Ghoul Guides herself, witchy jam making, a narrow boat named after my favourite liqueur, snaps from mine and Pip's visit to God's Own Junkyard, a page dedicated to our anniversary, receipt mementos from Mother's Ruin, the St Pancras Renaissance Hotel afternoon tea and mulled wine sipped whilst waiting to see Owen Pallett play, and finally is brought up to date with sketches and phrases for potions for my project Apotheké. Which brings me to my next blog post...