When I received the invitation to be a part of the "20 for 20" exhibition celebrating the 20th birthday of the Textile Center I started thinking about the lyrics from the Leonard Cohen song "Anthem":
"Ring the bells that still can ring, forget your perfect offering,
there is a crack in everything, that's how the light gets in."
And how bells are rung to celebrate so many thing. the saying "I'll be there with bells on," and then the Bob Dylan song "Ring them Bells." I had these wonderful bells that I bought on a very special trip to Santa Fe with my dear friend and my daughter that have been waiting in the studio for that special piece. So here is my imperfect offering complete with 20 bells, one to ring for each year of the Textile Center's existence. I am grateful to the Textile Center for giving me this opportunity to share in their celebration and for championing the value and beauty of fiber art.
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| For Aurora: Every Day's a Good Day |
My homage to Aurora, the goddess of the dawn, is made of hand sculpted cone 6 porcelain with a fabric and batting wrapped armature and a garment made of 14 different fibers. Her pants are made of dupioni silk and her halo of hair is from a wonderful Icelandic sheep. Making her was a reflection and celebration of my own journey in fiber arts as I did some dyeing, felting, spinning, weaving and sewing and remembered when I learned how to do each of those things. Each of those skills was taught to me by a wonderful woman at a different stage in my life. Added to all of that is the sculpted porcelain, which I have just recently learned thanks to a wonderful man. Hard/soft, masculine/feminine, clay/fiber... it was wonderful to bring them together to create a joyous reminder that every day that we are here is a gift.
