moving on - lost legacies

 for a long time i have had an ambition to develop a series of connected pieces . . . . . .  it seems the time has come:

after completing hidden histories i remembered other items of childrens clothing i had, all made by my grandmothers, so i felt that the next project could involve one of these - then Ruth annnounced the next MM theme as Lost Legacies and that idea really appealed as a way to go with one of the items

i feel i have only just touched on my paternal family history (with hidden histories) and this little baby chemise, made by my Cantin grand-mother for my older brother was the perfect starting point

i felt it would be the right vehicle for expressing my feelings around how different my grandmothers lives were from each other and what i felt was the lost potential of women, which seems to be well illustrated by the life of my paternal grandmother, Marguerite Mazoué-Cantin

again, i want to leave the chemise as intact as possible, so the next step was working out how . . . . meanwhile the mind-mapping and content ideas carried on, this still needs further thought but i am really happy with the way that is going - i feel that my maker membership is really taking effect now - i have greater confidence in what i am doing with this piece and feel the development is helped by the reflective Journalling i started and organising my thoughts and ideas in an ongoing notebook

the next step hit me like a light being switched on when i saw information about a course with Priscilla Edwards: a 4 day residential on Scupltural Textiles - mixed media, wire and wax - i remembered seeing her work several years ago at an event near Pendle Hill, then making a few small pieces inspired by it 

spoons

basket with handle

the idea of a cage around the chemise came up - to represent the limitations experienced by women - the cage will be embellished in ways which illustrate elements of their lives

 

Lady Bird - Priscilla Edwards

sketch for lost legacies

so far this has been a very satisfying process - i'm just waiting for the snags to start!