It did take me a bit longer than I'd hoped to get back to life.  So to honor this hiatus, I begin with one of the paintings I finished before I went to the end of the earth.  The title is "Magellan Returns."  It is oil on brown velvet, approx. 19 x 16'.  The piece was inspired by my sad discovery that Magellan never really completed his journey.  Yes, he found the strait he was looking for, but he  never made it back home.  So I complete the circle for him, sewing together the sky.  I chose brown velvet because, well, we think of those explorers as royalty, don't we? He was a true romantic and laid down his life helping natives defend themselves.

And here is a detail of the stitched part