New Work, New Direction

I have been promising for some time to post some images of my new work.  Progress has been slower than I would like due to having to wait weeks for my gold threads to arrive from Canada and the theft of my wood heater.  I didn't go to my studio for about 2 weeks after that, partly because it brought me down a bit, but also because winter has well and truly set in up here in the Tasmanian Central Highlands and it is absolutely freezing in my studio.  Despite that, I have braved the cold these last few days and with the help of an electric radiator, a hot water bottle and a knee blanket it is just bearable enough to be able to sit and work for 4 or 5 hours at a time.  I'm pretty sure this is not what is meant by suffering for your art!  Needless to say my usual lunch of fruit and yoghurt has been replaced with more warming fare such as soup and toasted sandwiches.

As you will see from the photos below I am trying something completely different. 

Lots of goldwork with bold flat colour to set it off.  Now if you're thinking that my goldwork doesn't look that flash please remember that you are looking at the work in detail and that the gaps you see are not overly apparent when viewing the work in person.  

The areas inside the orange and pink are worked using flatworm.  I love flatworm, but it is really difficult to work in such tiny areas.  So, while it may look a little rough here, it looks fine to scale and it has a fabulous 3 dimensional quality that makes this area look really lively.  I'm really quite happy with the result.

This area is worked with japanese gold thread on the diagonal with separate sections outlined with a line of medium pearl purl and fine grecian twist on the outside.  I'll probably get finicky and fill in the tiny areas where the satin stitching reveals some of the ground fabric.

Do you know what the symbol on the right represents and from whence it hails?  

Who's feet are these?

The feet belong to this guy.  Who is he and what is he doing there?

...

And who is this child?

So, there you have it.  Gold work, representational elements - what exactly is the story here.  Well there is a story and it's a complex one that will be revealed over the coming weeks as the work develops further.

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