Under the Surface has been a great theme to work with, there were many different options and ideas swirling around in my mind and it was only when the Honesty, Lunaria annua began to set it's seed that the complete idea arrived.
We have been hearing about a decline in birds and insects for the last while, partially due to the loss of habitats and the neatness of gardens in the suburbs. Our council has allowed the grass in the public spaces to grow long before cutting and with it we have seen numerous plant varieties that were not in evidence before. Those seeds must have been there, hidden away in the soil somehow surviving until they could once again grow into mature plants and set new seed. The benefits have been richer more varied habitats for wildlife with a greater choice of food.
Honesty is the perfect plant for depicting hidden seeds, the seed-heads were full of colour at the time the grasses were turning gold and yellow and the seeds forming were visible only when the sun caught them at the right angle. Now they are beginning to bleach and turn white and those seeds are no lunger hidden under the surface.
Techniques used:
Flour paste screen for the grasses with thickened Procion dye over bucket dyed fabric
Free machine embroidery on snipped layers of Voile through Romeo water-soluble film. Once the seed heads were stitched the Romeo was dissolved and the edges burned away
Machine wrapped braids
Free motion and hand quilting using a variety of cotton, rayon and polyester threads
And finally textile paint to add colour to the leaves
