Cards done

I crocheted this little woolly hat while watching the news the other day, but had a bit of a break from making things. It's that time of year - just mailed the last package out to loved ones for Christmas, along with all the cards and the newsletter. It seems to take longer each year, for a shorter letter!
Then I bought this magazine as a Christmas present for myself: it features the exhibition of Picasso & the Masters being held this year in 3 of the big museums in Paris. Although reading the magazine is not as satisfying as going to the galleries, I'm really enjoying it, and it's improving my French at the same time, adding technical art words to my vocabulary.

Which brings me to this sketch, my interpretation of the December Take-It-Further Challenge which is about generosity, or what giving means to me, using red, green and gold Christmas colours. My first reaction was to think of Mother Nature's genorosity and the biggest gift of all which I think is life itself. Having just reread Jean M Auel's The Plains of Passage, I thought of those little statues she describes of the Doni or Earth Mother, where the legs are just pegs and the head does not have a face, just spirals or decoration of that sort. I'll probably rework the sketch to make the belly more pronounced to stress the mother message. So I think I'll make that up using fabrics from my stash and free machine embroidery.
A big Thank You to Sharon for running the Take It Further Challenge this year. I won't be taking part next year but will continue to follow others' experiments.