...this blogger gave to thee...
...nine feathered sculptures...
...eight reels of telly...
...seven shoes to choose from...
...six party dresses...
...five gold rings!..
...four fancy fish...
...three granulations...
...two bits of wood...
...and a calendar made of tea.
Todays' offering seems appropriate after spending most of the morning trying to design a pattern and afternoon hand stitching little felt birds to add to the window at work, as once the twelve days are over, I must remove all the Christmas bauble and take lights. And the festive season officially ends.
Thankfully, the majority of the window this year will be staying (I will post pictures once I've taken some better ones), including my silver birches and the sheep in their winter wear. I'm planning on using the tree as the base for the year. Make life a little easier.
Cute as my little birds are, the pale in comparison to the textile sculptures produced by the wonderful Mister Finch, another wonderful and incredibly talented British artist, who I feel shock, awe and jealous whenever I see his work.
Textile Hare in Embrace
Pieces for Anthropologie
Inspired by nature - as so many artists I admire are - Mister Finch, who as no formal training in textile arts, just has an overwhelming love and desire to create hares and owls, moths and spiders, toadstools and caterpillars out of recycled fabric, carpeting and fake furs. His love of sewing came out of years of experimenting with other mediums and finding a love for it which is exuded from his work.
Moths are supersized, the bodies shrouded in fur while their winds made of embroidered fabrics which mimic the beautiful texture you see on their winds when placed under a microscope.
Beetles, with their bodies and wing casings made of vintage silver spoon bowls, are engraved with poetry, quotes and saying: "What was said to the rose to make it open was said here in my chest."
Bumblebees, who many thought should be incapable of flight because of their oversized bodies, Finch makes even larger. Covering them in fax fur and creating a been you would want to pet.
Glass Stopper Spider
Spiders oversized abdomens are made of vintage glassware, but are no less delicate than their fear inducing relatives.
Embroidered Moth
But even giant plate sized moths - an insect I don't particularly like in their tiny form, especially as they dive bomb you at night, and chew your good clothes - are staggeringly beautiful.
Textile Bird Collection
Mister Finch is also unafraid to explore the life-cycle within his work, both of his subject and his materials. In museums, such as The National History Museum in Tring, there are thousands of birds, preserved, catalogued, tagged and placed in lined drawers, housing a collection which accounts for ninety five percent of known species. So Finch has created his own ornithological collection, made of scrap fabric from discarded aprons, hotel curtains with their velvet surface worn away and threadbare wedding dresses, documenting their history in the birds form.
Moth Making...
The fabrics have a history. And the birds and moths, take on their character, weather beaten and exhausted, but now given new life.
Soft Sculpture Snails
"I've been making things all my life in some way.....its all I know and all I want to do." (Mister Finch)
That's the way I feel. I was seven when I knew I wanted to go to art school. When I was growing up, my big sister would have her head in a book, my little sister loved listening to music and me, I made things out of cardboard and paper, bits of fabric and thread...and layer after layer of glue. And that was before metal came into the picture. But maybe it's still not my medium, even though I love it.
As I write I'm even sitting on my bed, surrounded by sheets of felt, bits of thread and wadding, and despite the fact that it's nearly two, I'm still contemplating trying to stitch up another bird before I go to sleep.
I feel better when I make things. When my hands are busy and something appears from nothing, I'm happy.
"...it's all I know and all I want to do."
Link | Mister Finch Website
Link | Mister Finch Blog
Link | Mister Finch Tumblr
Merry Christmas & Happy New Year! Part eleven tomorrow...
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Listening: Small Hands - Keaton Henson
