I found a photo of polar bears that illustrated my point quite well. Several friends have been to the Arctic in recent years to see polar bears - one saw lots, and another only one in the distance. I am a supporter of Greenpeace, and was involved in mailing people about the Greenpeace activists who were imprisoned in Russia as they were protesting against drilling there.
All of these combined to make this a subject that I feel strongly about, preserving areas of natural ecosystems that are at risk of being permanently destroyed. We know that polar bears are finding the shorter hunting season a problem, and many starve as a result.
As I constructed my piece, using all hand dyed or painted fabrics, it reminded me of the marble floor in the church Santa Maria degli Angeli in Rome. This has a meridian line across the floor and up one wall, which the sun strikes and shows which astrological sign is current in the calendar. That thought led me to investigate the constellations of ursa major and ursa minor, a nice play on the mother and baby bears. I have never been able to 'see' the creatures and people in the stars. These are relatively close to the shapes in some star guides.
One collection of zodiac signs from Santa Maria degli Angeli.
Everything about this quilt is quality, Julia. The constellation idea is very clever. Well done.
ReplyDeleteExquisite use of colour.
ReplyDeleteThe background quilting enhances the feeling of frost. I like the idea!
ReplyDeleteJulia, this is gorgeous, i like the message too. Stunning polar bears and great use of embellishment. It's a brilliant piece of design work
ReplyDeleteI think it's fabulous that you've extrapolated your passion for polar bears and conservation and merged them with an inspiration from a Roman church to create such a wonderful piece of art.
ReplyDeleteI love the use of the constellations with this piece, very right brained and very effective. You have a real flare for portraying animals.
ReplyDeleteI could snuggle right up to those bears (but probably would not!!) - I love your portrayal of endangered species in your works - this one has both a gentleness and powerful message, and the constellations add a really interesting aspect that enhances the whole. Love it!
ReplyDeleteIt is an interesting connection of all your ideas in only one little quilt. I like the colours, the quilting of the background feels "icy".
ReplyDelete