The idea for the theme of my finished piece came very early in this module as I was looking for a word to play with and so I started with the word "List" and then added "shopping" to it.
The stamp I chose for my colour scheme shows a Luxembourgish lady which is one from the first (known?) women who have studied a abroad and didn't follow a typical career as a housewife and mother.
One thing added to the other and began thinking of what shopping stands for: caring for the family, filling the fridge (which is always empty at the end of the week), and in a wider sense cooking, household tasks, women's lives...
I see the activity of shopping as the modern equivalent of what women used to do in ancient times: collecting berries, mushrooms, herbs....thus caring for the survival of their family. I thought I could give this activity more importance (value) by creating something precious and honouring a simple activity.
At the same time I was thinking that the traditional handwritten shopping list is disappearing with the possibilities offered by smart phones and online ordering.
I'd like my finished piece to be a reverence to the activity of caring for the family (by doing the shopping), a kind of shrine .
The structure I'm planning to use is made of two stretched canvases , held together by two hinges or fabric (embroidered) glued to them. This would make a 3D structure similar to a book. .
The inspiration for this comes from the "Sundial diptych" found in the book "Stitch, Cloth, Paper and Paint" byAngie Hughes
The embroidered panel could be glued or stitched to the front but also to the back. The "inner life" of this structure offers the opportunity to work with apertures consisting of withdrawn thread fabrics showing handwritten shopping lists, collage of food packaging.... I like the idea of making people curious about what they might find and give them things to think about.
I'm also planning to create an opening which would show the picture of a shopping lady which I could embellish with some embroidery. The edges of this could of course be embellished too.
I know that this isn't exactly a book structure, but I do hope that I can go ahead in this direction.
I'm enclosing some pics of 2 canvases decorated with painted papers. I'd like to use some of my embroidered samples for inspiration for the front panel. Do I have to show you at this stage what I plan to use?
This is just a basic idea, showing the structure of the piece made with some decorated papers.
Finally I'd like to show you a picture of the project I made at my first Summer School with Louise Baldwin. Somehow the theme is following me.....
