In my studio

stitching and visioning new collections

The bright light in my studio beckons on these dark days drawing me into the comfort of slowly stitching my way through my latest collection, and opening portals to ideas for what is to come in 2026. The winter celebration time now just a few days away promises the turn towards the light a time to be grateful for everything in my life , I’m slowing down, emphasizing connection with dear friends, reflecting on summer’s many days of warmth, luxurious lake swims, brilliant sunsets, fresh farm foods and lazy evenings on the deck waiting for the stars.

I’ve spent the last several months creating a collection of moon circles, thirteen embroidery hoop pieces each invoking a full moon. These monthly moons are crafted from vintage and pre-loved cotton, linen, and silk textiles marked by botanical imprints. These quiet imaginings hold the hush of the living world, in different pigments and textures offered by each season.

The practice of slow stitching, feels like drawing with needle and thread allowing each piece to guide my hands. The slow contemplative process of following the markings and print, has been a source of deep delight for me. The moons hang full and rich beaming down on the stitched patterns, dried botanicals and lyrical phrases echoing characteristics of the month.

I studied full moon names from many traditions, watched seasonal changes in my own environment and wrote short lyrical phrases reflecting what I’ve learned, typed them on fabric with my manual typewriter and stitched them to the circles. I’ve listed the moons here in order of Astronomical seasons, as defined by the solstices and equinoxes:

Winter Astronomical Season - Winter Solstice to Spring Equinox

December winter freeze, oak leaves drop, days shorten to longest night:

wintering oak shivers in freezing air
days shorten darkness draw in for
longest night December cold moon

In January the moon feels old in an ice cold sky and wolves call for food:

old January wolf moon reflects
in frozen land and lake
ice patterns crack moan

February is known for its storms and stocks of food are getting low:

winter storms sweep the land
dark days long nights lean to
hunger in full February moon

Spring Astronomical Season - Spring Equinox to Summer Solstice

By March sap is beginning to rise, worms leave castings on soft soil:

earth crust softens sap rises
March worm moon leans
chaste into spring

April pink flowers bloom, frogs sing, hares run in fields:

April moon blushes over pink wildflowers
sprouting grasses hide new eggs
frogsong fills the air ponds alive with fish

May fruit blossoms bloom, corn is planted, hares run in fields under milky skies:

hare’s play in corn planted furrowed fields
apple blossom scented air warms under
milky skies of May flower moon

Summer Astronomical Season - Summer Solstice to Autumn Equinox

June nootka roses bloom, strawberries ripen, longest day brings summer’s warmth:

at longest day June strawberry moon
blesses hedgerow flowerings
nootka rose ocean spray fireweed

July thunder storms rage, hay is gathered, young bucks mature:

winters’ feed hayed under July buck moon
newly antlered deer graze in hot sun
drink from cool sparkling waters

August sturgeon fishing, ripened corn make feasts of summer abundance:

grains ripen, corn kernels swell, sturgeon multiply
August red moon blushes skies over
feasts of summer abundance

Autumn Astronomical Season - Autumn Equinox to Winter Solstice

September harvest fields of ripened grains, bright moon lights night work:

bright in September darkening skies
full corn moon shines on farmers’
night harvesting ears of wheat and barley

October travel days, grasses dry up, hunters gather winter food supplies:

bright hunter’s moon shines on
golden grasses edging
October traveller’s path

November frosted nights, misty mornings, beaver builds dams, winter traps set:

frost patterns etched in misty nights
November beaver moon glows
over dam builders' winter water homes

Thirteenth moon

Elusive in her frequency, the thirteenth moon challenges man’s attempts to define cycles and name moons. From a mistake in naming called after ‘belewe’ ‘to betray’ for her disruption of monthly regularity, the second full moon in a month is generally called the Blue Moon. Astronomically the thirteenth moon is defined as the third fuul Moon in an astronomical season containing four full moons.

What is an astronomical season I wondered, here’s a good description of that from a site I found searching for Blue Moon on the Royal Museums Greenwich website:

‘Which of the 13 full moons is the blue moon is up for debate. Traditionally the definition of a blue moon is the third full Moon in an astronomical season containing four full moons. This is the most complicated definition for people using the standard calendar, as the astronomical seasons begin and end at the equinoxes and solstices e.g. the winter season begins at the winter solstice and ends at the spring equinox, the spring season begins at the spring equinox and ends at the summer solstice and so on.’

elusive Blue moon shines bright infrequent
betrayer of man’s monthly pattern
belewe blue mystery moon

Some moons in my life during 2025

Upcoming exhibition of moon circles

This moon circle collection will be exhibited in the Ferry Building Gallery in West Vancouver as part of Interlace, a fibre art exhibit opening on Thursday February 5th with a receiption at 6pm that evening and running until Sunday March 1, 2026

at work in my studio stitching the August mooon circle

December long nights moon

Top row left - detail December moon right - detail February moon
Bottom row left - March moon right - detail June moon

my studio work table a new circle begins

New developments in three dimensions

I have been interested in developing some 3D pieces for some time based on a single soft sculpture piece I made several years ago.

The collection has now revealed itself as a series of eight Threshold Guardians each holding one of the traditional points in the wheel of the year marking the movement of the living world through the cycle of seasons. Starting in the Fall Mabon was the first Guardian to appear.

Mabon son of Modron in Welsh mythology is one of the names given to the Autumn Equinox. Here around September 21st we arrive at the midpoint between Summer Solstice - the longest day - and Winter Solstice - the longest night. When we celebrate Mabon our thoughts turn to gratitude for the abundance of the year’s harvest, the long days of summer and beauty of the turning season when many trees are dressed in their most colourful costumes blazing in the last of the sunny days before the long dark rainy season sets in. On a personal level we may choose to gather with dear ones to share some of the fruits of the harvest and hold sacred this time of balance between light and dark. In the silence of these moments we take the opportunity to reflect on the parts of ourselves we may need to bring into better balance. These could be about our work life, our attention to friendships, our contribution to community, our support of beloved family members or any other aspect of life we recognize as in need of attention. By taking these sacred pauses as the wheel of the year turns through the seasons, we become attuned to the cycles of life in the living world around us, gaining a deeper connection to the cycles in our own lives.

At this time of writing we are in the Winter Solstice season, solstice means ‘standing still’ a time when the sun pauses in its movement through the skies as if to take a breath. In the midst of what can be an overly busy time I invite you to take a breath with the sun, to stop, lean into silence, listen to your heartbeat, feel the energy moving in your own body and wait until from somewhere within you receive a signal to move again. Take time with yourself in the dark of the night. Turn off the lights, settle into stillness and quiet, breathe yourself through reflections of the last year, notice the joys and heartaches, remember the moments of clarity, think about how these have all changed you to become who you are on this day, not the same person you were on this day one calendar year ago. When you feel ready, give yourself the gift of light start with one light - a candle perhaps - let your eyes rest on the flickering flame as you remember who you are and invite yourself into the burgeoning light of a new astronomical season.

My gratitude to you for reading my words, your presence in my life is a gift. I wish you a winter season of love in all its wondrous forms.

I live in gratitude for the beauty of the traditional and unceded lands of the Hul’q’umi’num and SENĆOŦEN speaking people of the Cowichan tribes on which I live. I acknowledge that this is just a small step towards my own decolonizing and education to become a better friend and neighbour to the indigenous community living on this land.