Introducing Summer Day, a piece inspired by long days spend outdoors, examining the component parts of plants, having those materials in hand and seeing and feeling how the sun had transformed them and prepared them to reproduce. A trail from a solitary bee makes an appearance too. (I’ve always wanted to market a line of solitary bee houses called The Solitary Bee B&B…)
The papers were all made from fibers harvested near my former studio on Mission Creek. Papers from wheat stalk, sedge, tule (bull rush), iris and day lily form the bulk of the piece, with accents of pulp painting with pigment dyed abaca/recycled cotton. Stitching methods include the basics – back stitch, running stitch, chain stitch, along with some couched, spun tule paper. Threads include waxed linen, cotton thread and hand-spun milkweed from a crop of volunteer flowers next to the porch at my new house/studio.
Roberta Lavadour 