just one more wool...?

You may remember that the Bernuthsfeld man had a jacket made up of many different pieces of cloth, which I borrowed to dress one of the Weerdinge Men. This time I'll use the original shape of the jacket.

 

All the finished pieces are ready to go....but ....

When we last visited Savona's Wet Wool Works, I was really delighted with the Weerdinge Men. They're good. They sing. So I wanted to keep going with this method (printing directly with wool, no cut paper resists). How about printing  the shape of the original Bernuthsfeld jacket?  

OK, printed and outlined on the wool with strips of purple masking tape, then basted.

Then another test to see how my colors will transfer on this particular white wool, and begin choosing patches.

Ready, photoshop check my color results, and I can begin sewing.

But before I can attach each patch, I embroider under it, so the threads can also transfer color. And since the patches in the Bernuthsfeld jacket are so worn, I tried scraping some of my patches:

Possibly if most of the fiber is removed, that section will leave a lighter color transfer? Nope, it did absolutely nothing. Stripes of other materials did work:

Here I'm adding lighter green stripes which will be under a darker green layer.

Ready to soak, roll and bake. Meanwhile, I decided to add a map to this one, an indication of where it was found, since a bog body is named for the place discovered.....if only I could find that map. All the information says 'Bernuthsfeld Man' but none tell me where Bernuthsfeld IS.  One website tells me:

De man van Bernuthsfeld
For more than a hundred years Bernuthsfeld man has been on display at the Landesmuseum Emden. He was found on May 24th 1907 by the brothers de Jonge while working as peatdiggers in Bernuthsfeld in Hochmoor (Landkreis Aurich). Because of the place he was found he was nicknamed Bernie.The man must have died around 796 AD. 

I located Aurich, and Emden, in Germany, but not Bernuthsfeld. I emailed my niece Valerie, who speaks German and lived there for a few years. Happily, she sent me these maps:

Which I photoshopped into this image:

which I hope to subtly add to the jacket:

OK, out of the oven, we have a disappointing initial result. When am I going to stop hoping for success on the first try? Just accept it, Diane: it will need to go back in the oven for at least a second round. 

Unless.....what if I cut away part of the lighter bottom section, exposing the darker background? The skeletons dissolved in the bogs, so if I had a negative space for the skeleton, showing the missing bones and adding a balancing darker element...?

Like this. Basically a reverse applique. And I'd still have space for the map!

Well now. I'm not sure if this is amazing or horrible. I do think this one has moved away from the Fun with Bernuthsfeld vibe that I started with. When did the jacket become so murderously angry? Don't know what happens next...but that map isn't going to help, is it?

several days later......

When my son was little, there were days when I would be rushing to pack for a family trip and then realize that he was rubbing his ear, signaling the onset of another ear infection and the realization that the only place we were going was the pediatrician's. That's how I feel now. I have this map image all ready to use! And a good deal of white wool ready.....but this isn't going anywhere, is it?

Right now, it's time to leave all the wool sitting for awhile.

 The good news is that we're going back to the tablets, which you'll see next Monday.

 Comments? Questions? email me at dianesavona@aol.com