{"id":12800,"date":"2026-02-26T10:21:04","date_gmt":"2026-02-26T15:21:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.elizabethfram.com\/Blog\/?p=12800"},"modified":"2026-02-26T10:21:04","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T15:21:04","slug":"organized-chaos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.elizabethfram.com\/Blog\/organized-chaos\/","title":{"rendered":"Organized Chaos"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Self-Portrait\"

Self-Portrait<\/strong> \u00a92026 Elizabeth Fram, Gouache & Embroidery on paper, 6 x 8 inches<\/strong> \u00a0 This represents a couple of firsts: my first time painting a face using gouache and a first self-portrait. While I think the stitched pattern works well in this case, what I’m ultimately aiming for is to find a way to more fully integrate pattern, stitching and paint with each other.<\/p><\/div>\n

I have an uncle who wrote a regular newspaper column for years. During family get-togethers, including major holidays, he would inevitably sequester himself from the family group for a bit so he could meet his deadline. I was just a kid, but still peripherally aware that his challenge included what to write about week after week; it never occurred to me then how personal that memory might become.<\/p>\n

\"Bowl

Bowl and Cup, in process \u00a92026 Elizabeth Fram<\/strong> \u00a0This piece shows my most exciting discovery to date. I absolutely LOVE the almost batik-like effect of the pattern which lies underneath this image. Gouache’s inherent nature to reactivate with water has worked to my advantage here. That said, it’s also a very tricky operation. I haven’t had a chance to add stitching to this piece, but I have ideas…<\/p><\/div>\n

There are weeks when I really struggle with what to post here. It’s not that I lack things to share, but rather the challenge can be figuring out how to weave together my behind-the-scenes loose ends in a presentable and, hopefully, interesting way. It’s one thing to make the work, another altogether to write about it coherently, especially when it’s in a place of transition.<\/p>\n

\"Underlay\"

Establishing an under-layer of pattern with paint as a first step.<\/p><\/div>\n

Anyway, that’s the spot I find myself in this week – trying to articulate organized chaos. I’ve been plenty busy, but other than just showing you my progress, I lack a cohesive way to explain where I’m headed, especially since I’m not exactly sure yet where that might be. I’m puzzling my way through unknown territory and thus finding comfort in that discomfort.<\/p>\n

\"Head-on

In progress \u00a92026 Elizabeth Fram, Gouache on paper<\/strong> Look closely and you’ll see that I painted this portrait on top of the above under-layer. I learned a couple of important lessons to carry forward. Still planning to stitch on this one, but again, haven’t yet had time.<\/p><\/div>\n

The one thing I know from experience is that the secrets I’m hoping to uncover will only float to the surface through doing the work. One has to venture down a lot of dead-ends before finding the road through.
\nI’ll have to ask my uncle if that’s how it worked for him too.<\/p>\n

\"3

3 Vessels<\/strong> \u00a92026 Elizabeth Fram, Gouache & Embroidery on paper, 8 x 4.5 inches \u00a0<\/strong>This one feels one step closer to where I want to go.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u2737<\/span><\/h2>\n

A colorful reminder<\/a> that Spring is on its way.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I have an uncle who wrote a regular newspaper column for years. During family get-togethers, including major holidays, he would inevitably sequester himself from the family group for a bit so he could meet his deadline. I was just a kid, but still peripherally aware that his challenge included what to write about week after […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[21,17,862],"tags":[1695],"class_list":["post-12800","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-discussion","category-process","category-textiles-and-drawings","tag-discovery"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5kO5z-3ks","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.elizabethfram.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12800","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.elizabethfram.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.elizabethfram.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.elizabethfram.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.elizabethfram.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12800"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.elizabethfram.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12800\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12821,"href":"https:\/\/www.elizabethfram.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12800\/revisions\/12821"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.elizabethfram.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12800"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.elizabethfram.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12800"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.elizabethfram.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12800"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}