New work is proceeding well, and I am finding that I can actually work on three (related) things at once.

The background is a commercial print containing touches of turquoise green and very dark purple/brown along with a whole range of tan shades deep and light.

I’m machine quilting this one, although I know hand stitch looks great with leather, I am interested in trying some other effects, and so doing so on this small piece, 1.25 m x 0.3m At first I though I would do an allover group of circles like pebbles (I first used this way back in 1994 in “Hannan’s Reward” and really haven’t much since) It is luscious especially in metallic, of which I had some suitable thread here, but somehow it seemed to overwhelm the natural quality of this particular leather, so going with this natural quality then, I felt that some plain minimal quilting would be right. Of course, once it is finished and has been exhibited somewhere I will put the picture of the whole quilt up, probably on the website. It may go into my July exhibition here in Montevideo.

Leather – yesterday wandering through the markets I visited The Leather Man as I call him, I don’t know his name but will ask some time, and will certainly take him an invite to my exhibition. He has no idea what I do with the leather I buy from time to time. I have told him, but I think he has no concept really – and there is no spanish equivalent for ‘quilt’. Anyway, he had some terrific stuff yesterday, several gold/bronze/coppery and pewter pieces, including some parts with wonderful imperfections I am sure I can enhance. I could have bought a whole hide of some beautiful brown with deeper brown splatters on it, he says it is natural but I think/feel has been paint splattered, not that I really know a lot about processing hides…. I settled for about 1.5m x 60cm, it only cost 600 pesos which is about US$22; it’s soft and very shiny, and I’m thinking about it.