change




 reworking an old piece, adding Sun Moon & Stars - as a follower of Jude's latest 'class' -  with lots of thread beads, for one because I love the feel of them and to me they could also represent stars, light specks, shimmering motes of stardust; the cloth was wider, too wide I felt so I cut it on both sides and added neat edges with the very thin red/white cloth, hence the blue bird lost it's tail; I also added the blue-grey sky fabric with the dyed moon and the red-white middle square with the cut-off tree-thingy on top and as I was so busy cutting away sewn on bits and restitching others, I decided to cut the middle layer away from underneath all the coloured bits as well, making it all two-layered three-layered, another thing I learned from Jude; in this way the backing is left cloth intact for a neater look, I always like to look at the back of a piece as well; if I've lost you by now: don't worry it's not that interesting, this information is mainly for personal record-keeping.
probably more interesting than the back of this piece is the article on woodlice lying underneath it, did you know they grind dead wood into powder so the fungi can get to work; thanks to the woodlouse's endeavours valuable nutrients from dead organic matter is rendered back into the soil so living plants can prosper; without woodlice woods would disappear or become much less diverse!  Onsiscidea is the name for this group of arthropods, not insects  but crustaceans, related to crabs, lobsters and shrimps. They date back 160 million years. They're constantly shedding their skin and devouring it as well, theirs is a peaceful life: eat, sleep, shed repeat.
 Imagine my surprise when I discovered just how many synonyms there are in the English language for such a small creature: 

pill bug 
woodlouse 
armadillo bug 
cheeselog
doodlebug
monkeypea 
roly-poly 
potato bug 
roll up bug
slater 
sow bug

addendum for Grace in response to her comment: I said the piece was two-layered, I don't know why, I guess I didn't look properly, as it obviously has at least three layers, where there is the red/white square with the tree-thingy scrap of cotton it has 4 layers, as the red/white is so very thin I feel it to be okay that way; why I'm being so finicky about this is in part thanks to Jude's teaching (she frequently explains how she cuts away layers after having added bits of fabric, so overall there is the same amount f.e. here) and also the entire feel of the piece is directly influenced by the layering and as it's hanging (or will be soon) the amount of cloth and weight involved matter, which you 'get' once you feel the real item in your hand

Comments

Mo Crow said…
love how your cloth holds the subtle colours of your land
oh, but it IS interesting...this post FILLS me with a kindred energy of how
it is to work with cloth...i LOVE it, Saskia, i really LOVE it and love
that you sat there and wrote it
the Cloth its SELF is very very GRAND, and how it came to be that way
is just something for my Heart

then, you add the bugs, their doings, at first i never would have
related them to the beings i have here...but .....EEEEEEEEEEEEEE
they are the SAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
all those creatures i have here by the billions...you have TOO!!!!!!!!!!!
all the wondrous workings there is going on all day every day, here and
in your Place TOOOOOO!!!!!
Oh, just JOY. Joy. JOY. Joy. joy. joy and more
Saskia said…
subtle yes Mo, I am also trying to incorporate more colour as I have been very restrictive in my palette once I started dyeing with local plants; I now feel restricted by my own rules and have decided to embrace whatever colours happen to come my way, not that I shall be dyeing with commercial dyes, just that gifted colourful cloth is welcome too.

Grace I have added to the post in repsonse to your comment, as I made a mistake in the counting of layers!
the article titled 'Ode to the Woodlice' is from the magazine Natura, I receive it as I am a member of the Dutch Society for Field Biology (KNNV). One of the sources mentioned is in English: Woodlice, S.L.Sutton, 1980 Pergamon Ltd. if you're interested in more reading
Anonymous said…
I kinda like the half bird on the edge. something to think about. like Jude's half moons on the edges...
jan said…
Cheeselog........I like that........lots X
Saskia said…
and also Dee, something I learnt way back in art college: the deliberate cutting off of something leads the eye outwards, away from the story held within the frame, beyond what is shown; I forget loads of what I already know and then it jumps up at me when an 'accident' like this occurs

ha Jan, I like it too; all those different names for such a small Being

tungsten

tungsten

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