Maria Thomas Textiles

21 years borrowed

maria | 06.05.16 | In Making | 3Comments

its a lovely feeling when a thing comes together…. folding, rolling, holding, wrapping, hugging, cuddling, securing, caring and comforting a precious creation.  I’ve been working on this piece for some time now, twenty one years it appears though i didn’t know it at the time.

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My eldest boy leaving home has created a void I didn’t see coming.  Though I felt it months before as his independence grew, its only now as I reflect that it becomes crystal clear.  Mending, fixing, parenting the cloth to be fit for the child – making good for them, then letting go for their independence to grow – how much is enough?  The essence of him lurks everywhere in residual memories, even the laundry bin contains a void.  He’s not gone in the forever sense, but freed himself of his childhood island, gone to find his adult being, leaving me (the parent) suspended or paused..

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So I’ve taken to my work using some of the clothes and paper ephemera he left behind – indigo dyeing, Kantha stitching, applique with organdy and quilted collage.

 

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