Buttons&Beads&Quilts!

This piece, “Elements – Water” is the second created in the series of Elements quilts that I’m writing about this week. They all are my way of honoring the work of the Greek philosopher, Aristotle. His early writings were the basis for scientific teachings for hundreds of years, and his influence was far reaching. His theory that the four elements earth, fire, air, and water were the major components of all living things influenced the development of medicine and other forms of early sciences. Later, during the Middle Ages, alchemists built on his ideas as they worked with various chemicals in the pursuit of trying to turn base metals into gold. Thus, modern chemistry was born.

When deciding what color to choose as the main one, blue was the first choice. However, I’ve seen natural bodies of water ranging from the mineral green of Lake Louise in Canada to the intense, azure blue of the Caribbean. I’ve even seen a burgundy colored lagoon in Venezuela whose water was colored that way because of the tannin in the local vegetation. However, as blue is usually cited as most people’s favorite color, there is usually an easy supply of blue fabrics and embellishment materials. I went for the obvious decision for this piece’s main color. Blue it was!

One of the surprises whenever I have seen the ocean floor close to shore is the difference between the relatively flat, bare surface above and the wealth of life teeming below. For me, this is especially true in the Caribbean, as this is the only place where I’ve been fortunate to see much of the sea’s bottom. I once went on a mini-sub ride off the coast of Barbados and the wonders that I saw in the relatively shallow water were astounding. The variety of vegetation, the colors, the textures are all still tucked away in the recesses of my mind. I think that artists are constantly collecting information for future pieces that they haven’t even thought of yet. I know for me, that was certainly the case that day in the mini-sub.

I tried to capture some of that richness that I remembered in the buttons, beads, and other materials that I used for embellishments. In the upper right and the lower middle of the detail photo, there are gold metal star fish buttons. It would be very hard to feed them through a button hole, but they makes a great addition to this piece. In the middle of the lower edge is a white bottle with a brown stripe running down the middle. It’s made out of buffalo horn, and to me, speaks of the sunken treasures on the sea bottom from ships lost at sea. The clear plastic buttons that appear as white “poofs”, especially in the lower right, I used to resemble jelly fish. (In the earth quilt I wrote about yesterday, the same buttons were used to mimic bird feathers.) There are also some pieces of real shells that have been added to add to add to the undersea effect.

There are a lot of ways that I could have chosen to simulate water, and I chose an under sea scene. While writing this now, I stopped to reflect on why I did that, as I could have chosen a pond, river, or lake for the theme for this piece. Perhaps, it’s because of my science background, I know that all life originated in the sea. We also carry remnants of that primordial soup in the saline solution in our blood that gives us life. I also imagine the ocean image was used because I had a lot of cool materials from which to choose for the embellishments. However, you might choose to think of water, and whatever is your image of it, I hope that you’ll work to help support causes that help to keep this vital resource clean for future generations. Water is fundamental for the well-being of all of us.

You can see more of my art wrok on my web site at www.fiberfantasies.com