If I Had Wings

The inspiration for this Three Dimensional embroidery was from the Preface to Cromwell by Victor Hugo

On the day when Christianity said to man: “Thou art twofold, thou art made up of two beings, one perishable, the other immortal, one carnal, the other ethereal, one enslaved by appetites, cravings and passions, the other borne aloft on the wings of enthusiasm and reverie—in a word, the one always stooping toward the earth, its mother, the other always darting up toward heaven, its fatherland”—on that day the drama was created. Is it, in truth, anything other than that contrast of every day, that struggle of every moment, between two opposing principles which are ever face to face in life, and which dispute possession of man from the cradle to the tomb?

Therefore "If I Had Wings" was born with birds breaking free form the earth and soaring above.

These are a few pages from my sketchbook

These are ideas which didn't make it in the final piece but that is the fun of starting a new project. 

The shape also developed organically as I cut the sections and re-pieced them.

It is another piece which is in need of some TLC. I sent it to an exhibition and it came back in a slightly different shape to the one sent. 

However it has made me take another look at my sketchbook and I am falling in love again with the torn paper shapes on the second image.  I can see the dissolvable fabrics coming out and some machine stitching.

Bev