Prayer Flags ... Hope

I am working on prayer flags in preparation for the workshop I will be teaching next month but I seem to be getting hung up on all the people for whom I would like to make a prayer flag. I have several people in my circle who might be uplifted by a handmade prayer flag and they were in my thoughts as I created these two "hope" flags yesterday.

I started off with end pieces of some hand painted cotton and I used the irregular shapes as part of the shape of the flag. The fabric looks very much like a landscape so I used a thermofax screen to add a tree (tree of hope) to which I later added some hand embroidery stitches. At the moment I am making samples using a variety of techniques to add text to the flags, so one of these flags uses stamped letters and the other uses hand-printed letters.

These flags are one layer of cotton (the stitching is visible on the back) and I have left the edges all unfinished and I even started to unravel some of the threads so they would look a bit ragged. If left out in the weather, they will slowly fade and unravel.

I hope to create several more prayer flags or inspiration flags in the next few weeks. If you would like to know more about my upcoming workshop, it is at Sorrento Centre from April 25-30 and there is more information by clicking on the link or by phoning Sorrento Centre at 250-675-2421.

Tree of Life - the finale

It's been a long time since my last blog post so . . . . as I said at that time, this tree of life landscape was commissioned to be used as a book cover so there were some design factors that had to be considered for it to be functional as well as an inspiring piece of art.  After a consultation, we decided to eliminate the roots of the tree and bring in more of the spring garden aspect of the landscape.

I re-worked the lower section of the landscape with a cheery hand dyed green fabric and then added flowers in the garden with hand embroidery.  It is a representation of the memorial garden at Sorrento Centre.

The book cover was then cut down the spine and I inserted another piece of hand dyed fabric that I printed with the name of the centre.  There is a pocket in the front flap to hold pamphlets or papers and it has been tightly fit to the scrapbook sized binder.

Work in Progress - Tree of Life Landscape

It's been ages since I have last posted new work ... but it's certainly not because I have been idle.  The winter has been full of fibre art experiments, workshops and dabblings . . . and now that spring is underway, I feel that I would like to post some photos of a piece that I am working on right now.

This is a small art quilt that will not see life as a wall hanging, but as a book cover ... I will post more on that, and final photos, once it has been presented to the organization that commissioned it.  In order to make this as durable as possible, I had to reject some of the techniques and fibres that I might have liked to use in this piece.  Because it will be handled (although not heavily) I felt that I should use woven fabric and stitching to achieve the look I wanted.  The fabric is all hand-dyed or hand-painted ... some of it by me, some by others.

The background design is a slightly abstract landscape of our beautiful Shuswap Lake and the tree has been created as a tree-of-life, with the roots going down into the ground and the branches and leaves reaching to heaven.  The tree has some limbs that have been cut off at some time, but the other branches are still carrying on and bringing life to the myriad leaves, represented by hand stitching in a variety of green threads.

There is still more work to be done on it, but I am pleased with how it is developing.

"The Threads of St. Mary's"

This is a banner that I designed and constructed in honour of the 100th Anniversary of St. Mary's Church, Sorrento, BC. It was dedicated on Easter Sunday, 2011.

Prior to the construction of this banner, parishioners and former parishioners were invited to donate a "thread" to be incorporated into the banner . . . some of these threads were as fine as a piece of sewing thread or fishing line, others were heavier pieces of rope and leather, while still other pieces were yarns or ribbons remaining from significant projects. Some threads were utilitarian while others were decorative. Pieces of each thread were incorporated into the cross on the banner, with some of the threads being clipped into pieces to form the foundation under the longer ripples of thread on the surface. In some cases, several threads were twisted together and then stitched with yet another thread to create a heavier cord to use on the surface. The cross itself has an aspect of the tree of life, with roots in many parts of the community. There are a few beads on the banner that accentuate the sky, hills and the cross itself. The banner measures 31" x 44".




The background of the banner has been pieced from a selection of hand-dyed fabrics and has been designed to represent the Sorrento area . . . the beautiful hills, mountains, lake, forests and fields. It has been quilted in free-motion designs to accent each component and many of the sections have been hand-embroidered with textural stitches that enhance the overall design. Light seems to filter down onto the hills and the lake from the cross. (I have included a smaller photo of the banner here that is darker in colour (perhaps closer to the true colours in the banner...all these photos still need work -- what else is new!)

The reverse side of the banner has the lettering for St. Mary's, Sorrento, so that when used as a processional banner, the name of the church will be visible after the banner passes the observer. The lettering is created from fabric that I hand-painted in a strong turquoise blue. A swag of additional threads can be looped onto the reverse side when it is used as a processional banner. . . I forgot to take a photo of the reverse of the banner with the swag of threads, so I'll add one later.

St. Mary's is a beautiful small church located right on the Trans Canada Highway and close to Shuswap Lake. The church started life as a log structure in 1911, built by the Anglican community; it has been a shared ministry between the Anglican and United Church community for the past forty years.