Its an old adage but I'm turning over a new leaf this year. My goal is not only to blog on a weekly basis but I've also set myself the challenge of doing a new piece of art every week.
I have often admired artists who undertake such marathons and the discipline of doing something different and in a relatively quick period of time is quite engaging.
Last year, I was lucky to visit Farfield Mill and catch the 62 Group@50 exhibition where Hannah Streefker's work caught my eye. She had mended the holes and imperfections in leaves with delicate and loving stitches and then mounted her specimens in individual frames covering an entire wall. The effect was breathtaking!
In my own homage to her work I collected some leaves from my garden: holly and ivy for the season and sweet bay leaves for their aroma. It wasn't difficult to find some that needed my care because the incessant wind has been ravaging my garden for months. But stitching these delicate green clothes proved much more difficult than I imagined. As the leaves dried, the stitches became loose and coarse. I don't think I enhanced Nature's own work but it was interesting to work with new materials.
Her work was stunning at Fairfield wasn't it? It reminded me of when I was a little girl. I used to pull the petals off roses and sew them together and make dresses for the fairies and leave them at the bottom of the garden. They were never there in the morning!
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