As promised, here is the finished product of my
first fugitive media experiments. It's called "Transracial Adoption" (explanation for the name at the end of the post.)
But now, to the explanation of the "how".
The original "finish" had these brassy-gold beads sewn around the edge.
But as
always happens when I add beading, I didn't like it when it was done. It didn't add anything and in fact, I think took away from the lovely hand-dyed fabrics
Hey, speaking of those fabrics, they're the ones from
THIS series of posts. But back to the beads, I never like them when I add them. I think I'm just not a bead kind of girl. Which is pretty shocking, given how much of a magpie I am.
But speaking of shiny things, something I did add and love was a little gold at the tips of the petals and to highlight some of the lines/veins in them.
I also used ordinary gel pens to add a little more definition with a good result,
And the final touch was to add some script with this Micron pen,
Which is a poem I wrote a couple of years ago:
Transracial Abduction
Lishanthi tells me
my blouse and earrings remind her of "home"
and smiles,
a soft light in her eyes.
I smile too,
warm in her afterglow
while she speaks of home:
food and comfort
and cousins both big and little who play
outside
it's small
but large with mama and aunties
who laugh and scold and call
“Come in this house now!”
and generations stretch out behind them like trees,
like afternoon shadows,
like a road to her heart's beginning.
And as she talks,
love runs through every word.
I nod and smile, and laugh along,
alone .
I wished I knew,
and felt lonely for a home I never had.
Kit Lang (c) 2008
When I first made the flower, I had no idea what I was going to do with it, but as soon as I combined it with my hand-dyed fabrics, I immediately "saw" my poem, and knew that it would reflect the beauty and warmth of Lishanti's version of "home"; while the dark shadows of the purples and lilacs expressed my longing for one like hers.
In a way, I'm sorry that this piece is just a journal quilt (or "sketch" as I call them); because it feels like a bit of a waste to have used those fabrics that I loved so much. On the other hand, because it is a sketch, there's so much room for development, so I could do a series that would evolve - both the techniques and the story.
This piece also caused a fair amount of acrimony in our household - both because of it's subject matter and BSP's firm assertion that "art should be pretty". BSP added that no one would want something "so depressing" to hang in their home. (!)
After a couple of days, we agreed to disagree, and I'm sure you'll see me revisit this subject again in the future. With or without BSP's stamp of approval. ;)
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