the dawn will come
It all started with a few lines from an Emily Dickinson poem:
NOT knowing when the dawn will come
I open every door;
Or has it feathers like a bird,
Or billows like a shore?
Well, actually, it all started with an invitation to participate in an upcoming show at the George Marshall Store Gallery, in York Maine. A number of artists were asked to respond to the Bulman Bedhangings, one of the most important objects in the Museums of Old York’s collection. I didn’t even know what a Bedhanging was before the invitation. But these are evidently the only complete set of American crewelwork to have survived from the 18th century, and quite an amazing set to see. By clicking the link above (on the Bulman Bedhangings text) you can see a small photo of them and read more about them.
I had long considered adding stitches to some of my collages, and this proved the perfect opportunity to start experimenting with yet another way to add color: embroidery thread. At left is a detail of the first piece I worked on. It evolved, as most of my work does, over a span of time. In the beginning there were just the words; then I printed a monotype on top of the words; next were some collage elements – the lace on top and bottom were stitched on; and finally stitches, and after hanging on the wall for a few weeks, more stitches (to try and tone down the heavy handedness of Emily’s quiet words).
Stay tuned for more details about the show itself – which happens in October! If you’d like to get a sneak preview of more of this new work, click here.
