Did you know?
Did you know that Mrs. Featherton is going on a trip? Did you know that my youngest is now flying on her own? Did you know that our woodpecker neighbors are planning to…?
These are conversations that take place all over the world as soon as neighbors or friends meet. On a fantastical background, the theme of chatting and gossiping from one branch to the other makes one smile.
I began this piece by looking at my hand-dyed fabrics. The one that was used for the background caught my eye because of how it gave the feeling of light in the forest. And that was the spark of inspiration I needed to create this piece, which I had already partly drawn in my sketchbook. You can see, drawings can take their time getting to my table in the studio. That is to say, it’s when the fabric falls into my hands, that the link is immediately made with my sketches.
Unlike many of my other pieces, which relate a memory or an event, this piece is purely fictitious and fanciful. It was when looking at the two birds in this setting that I thought that there might be an exchange between them, a conversation. However, the speech may be more serious than I imagined.
The shapes in this piece are all appliqued. The fabrics I used, for the most part, are ones that I dyed, others are fabrics that I painted. I recycled mohair fibers that were used as masks during the painting of another fabric. The pleasure in the realization of a piece like this is in taking one’s time; I even did “slow stitching” hand embroidery onto the background. The texture which emerges contrasts with the machine stitched parts.
