19th March 2019
February, with its unseasonal flash of heat, has come and gone and now we’re into a wild and stormy March. The intensity of my MA studies has also disappeared and has been replaced by catching up on all the things that were put aside during my degree. There’s been a lot of tidying up!
It’s been hard to adjust to not having a deadline to meet but, with perfect timing, I have had time to meet family needs. For myself, I’m feeding the need to sew, making some clothes for myself from fabric that’s been in my stash for way too long. The simple discipline of following pattern instructions has been therapeutic and calming in a world of feeling a little adrift, after the purposeful voyage of university life.
Many of you have asked about my final pieces for my Masters degree, so here at last is a summing up. I made two pieces, burial coverings for a Christian woman’s funeral, that could be used instead of a coffin. One is a colourful sleeping bag, dyed with natural, plant-based dyes. The other is a gown, based loosely on my own wedding dress, to represent a Christian bride going to meet her bridegroom, Jesus. If you’d told me at the beginning of my course that’s what I’d be making I would not have believed you! But, this is the path I went along and I am very happy with the outcome. The works were entitled, No Fear in Death.
Using dyes at university which required me to ‘suit up’, with a mask, apron, gloves and working under an extractor fan because of toxins, made me look at alternative, kinder, safer ways to colour cloth. It was a steep learning curve, as I knew absolutely nothing about this area! You can read about this in my previous posts here and here.
Once I had my colours, the next stage was designing the covering. I opted for a sleeping bag because it is a practical, one-size-fits-all shape that has conotations of rest and cosiness. I made the top a patchwork of appliqued squares which was practical to work with and conjoured up a traditional, ancient craft, born of thriftiness. Inspired, as always, by stained glass windows and Greek icons I used gold thread to sew ‘glazing bars’ across the joins.
The designs are all pared down, simple images and have symbolic meanings.
The words down the centre read: ‘No guilt in life, no fear in death, this is the power of Christ in me’ and are taken from the christian song, ‘In Christ alone’ by Keith Getty and Stuart Townend.
The whole sleeping bag is made from biodegradable materials (organic, ethically-made cloths and threads bought from the Organic Textile Company), and dyed with plant-derived colours (dyes from dyeing-crafts.co.uk, or grown or foraged by me) except for the gold threadwork. The idea is that everything will disappear over time, leaving no trace, no pollution, and only that which has been most important to the woman will remain. It’s an enduring witness to her faith.
This photo was taken at my degree show...
and the next is at my exhibition, ‘No Fear in Death’ which was at Christ Church, Wharton in January. A beautiful setting!
And here’s a moment of celebration after all the hard work!
In the next post I’ll tell you about the Wedding Gown.
On another note, I’ve been asked why I don’t have a comments box on my website. It’s not for want of trying! I’m looking into the technology (again) as we speak. In the meantime, please feel free to email me. My details are on the ‘Contact' page here.
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