All the small things....

In the derelict cottages at Tyneham nature has moved in.  Leaves blow and swirl in the breeze, entering through open doors, settling in unused corners.  Dry and representing all the colours of Autumn, I want some of my work to reflect this change so I began to stitch nature.  I don't want obvious pieces in all of the properties, some I would like the viewer to notice only as they take a closer look.  A reminder perhaps of how delicate life is.

Lichen on a twig collected from the wood at Tyneham

I have used free embroidery to recreate the lichen on my sewing machine and finished off sewing by hand

Using different materials

 Dried fern and machine embroidered sample

Free embroidered ivy leaf stitched onto hand made paper

Stitched onto ivy

 with burnt silk

 Leaves with copper foiling stitched onto hand made paper

 Silk smocked

Trapped leaves and lace in plastic wallet and melted with an iron

A visit to the Antiques Emporium, Dorchester

Well what better way to spend a Sunday morning than having a look around the new Antiques Emporium in Dorchester......I found this lovely sewing box full of lovely bits and bobs that will keep me amused for hours.....

 No need to throw away holey tights

Finding these lovely bits has given me lots of inspiration for my Tyneham project, especially the Seamstresses House.....

Please do not pick the wild flowers

On my latest visit to Tyneham I noticed this little sign.  At the time there were no wild flowers directly beneath but I know there is wild garlic, wild primroses, cowslip and milkwort in the surrounding area.
I thought about making my own flowers to place in the ground during my exhibition and the poppy was the flower that came to mind from the wonderful display that was in the church.
Being November and a time for remembrance the poppy has great significance and I began to look at the poem 'On Flanders Fields', where the poppies bloomed across some of the worst battlefields of Flanders in World War 1.

http://www.inflandersfields.be/#gedicht

In Flanders Fields - by John McCrae 

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

Sketching ideas

Hand-made organza poppies

Using photoshop to see what the poppies look like at Tyneham

Village School bookcase

I have been working on different printmaking techniques to produce atmospheric images based on photographs I have taken at Tyneham Village.  This work has been created on a collograph plate and printed using an Albion press.