The decision to give The Crow to Wendy Golden-Levitt to share with traumatized children as part of their therapy (see yesterday’s post), not only inspired subsequent design choices, it gave energy to completion. Like the commissioned quilt, I wanted there to be very soft textures (this one: angora knit, silk wings, satin woven sections, velvet backing). After mounting the rectangle to a jacket, with visions of children running with the crow on their backs, I cut it away, because it wouldn’t fit the little ones, and anyway, three feet of streaming ribbon could possibly problematic. The captions tell the rest.
damp stretching knit onto felt
defining wing area
rejected bead eye, used button; added silk for wings and belly, felt for feet
split running stitch to better define beak; a strip of my mother’s wool challis scarf to get her in there
stitched to velvet jacket, then cut away, leaving velvet edges; added runners of lace and satin
vision of child wearing crow and streaming tails changed to something that could sit in their lap, not get caught on anything; size shouldn’t matter
returning to ‘treasure map’ idea, this time with star map and red X’s marking the spot
crow communing with birds; tapering rectangle shows need of additional cloth
kept little blue tab on side — it looks to me like a way out or a way in
added soft polka dot panels to even lower edges
ready to fly away!
Thanks so much for the comment on ‘waiting for the muse’- I thought I’d return the favor and found I love your work! First thing I see is crows, several crows- I adore crows! Your collage-y pieces are directly related to Sylvia Einstein’s work too- all sorts of fabrics cut out to tell stories. Are you in QC? I was for over 25 years and loved it but felt funny taking up a membership when I was away so much. I still try to come back once in =awhile and whine until a friend takes me as a guest. Keep up the wonderful work, hope to meet you at some point! Sandy
I was a member of QC for many years and was pretty active the first few, but the last few, I wasn’t and like you realized I shouldn’t be taking up a spot. It’s somewhat ironic, the timing, because I will have an empty nest for the first time in a few weeks, and I STILL think it would have been a struggle to get myself there. Anyway, I love Sylvia Einstein’s work, took one afternoon workshop with her… I feel a real sense of affinity for her use of pattern.
Dee I love the metamorphosis of your crow. You are right about how an intention sharpens focus and illuminates the way forward. This crow could be the source of many stories.
I hope it will be the source of many stories!
Love the little blue tab <3 This piece's destination makes me wish I sewed!
something about that tab… like if you pulled it, the world would turn inside out….
Oooh … I want to pull on a tab like that 🙂
aaarrrrkkkk! aaaaaarrrrrkkkkk! aaaaaaaaarrrrrrkkkkkk!
ah, the visiting crow girl comes calling!