Domestic Armor (early work)

Before we continue with the tablets, a quick visit back to early work:

Domestic Armor 67"h x 46"w) 

                Domestic Armor was inspired by a Japanese kesa*. In ancient Japan, people would donate silk kimonos to the monasteries. These would be cut and sewn to make patchwork garments called kesas. I liked the idea of a community combining used fabrics into one cloth. Over several years, I saved potholders, aprons and towels from many different garage sales; I sewed together the protection from many different women. Groups of women often come together to help each other, to provide emotional support. Of course, you must believe in and live by the values of this group. If you outgrow the values of your group, their emotional reinforcement can start to seem rather heavy, like the weighty protection of this armor.

*My thanks to Dianne Yound, who emailed me long ago to tell me that the kesa design is said to have been by Buddha himself and based on the layout of rice fields, and that I was misspelling it (kesa, not kasa).

Here's the back of the piece, with an explanation sewn inside.

A few details: on top, the special hanger I built, with a wooden hanger, a dowel and 2 wooden spoons. Bottom left, the loop and button to close it  (yes, it really is wearable!), center, a political ad on a potholder, and last my grandniece (who I will leave unnamed so as not to embarrass her) wearing domestic armor. 

a dead end.... early work

My Lint Project. I had played with felt, and gotten some good results, which I included in my art. I liked the way you can embed bits of crochet in the felt. I had also done a bit of paper-making (well, more like cardboard-making, given the thickness of the results) using lint. So, I wanted to  try experimenting with. ..felted lint? Yes, I know, lint won't felt like wool. But I made some big screens, arranged crochet on them, and dipped them into big sinks with lint in water. Pressed it to get the water out, dried it and very carefully covered it, top and bottom, with netting. Then I hand stitched to quilt it all together. 

>sigh<

I think if I worked further on this - added other materials to the lint so it would adhere better, or played around with lint from different fabrics - I could improve my results. But...why bother? It just didn't sing to me, at all.

I tried doing it as patches, using different colored lint with crochet bits peeking out of each.... but no, it looks sickly. 

I just kept thinking that lint - which consists of cloth, really - should work as an intermediary layer, allowing a gradual transition from printed fabric to crochet.....but dear god, it looks like somebody threw up on it.  Time to back away from the lint, Diane.

But: there IS an artist, Heidi Hooper,  who has figured out how to use lint to create art. She uses lint as a kind of mosaic, overlapping pieces to create portraits. Look her up.

And - just so you know - you CAN dye your lint. Pack it loosely in a panty-hose leg, tie a knot, and put it in a bucket. I've done this, and (assuming your lint comes mostly from cotton) it works.