Major Work 2012

Have finally finished my 2 year Intermediate Historical and Contemporary Embroidery Certificate course at the Embroiderers' Guild NSW. The whole experience was certainly "challenging" for several reasons. I knew from the start what my theme was going to be - the difficulties experienced by the girls aged 12-16 years put into "Lynwood Hall" (now called Linnwood) when they were State Wards in the 1940's, 50's and 60's. I thought this would certainly fit into one of the theme categories we were offered, so I chose Pain. My original concept was to make or adapt a 1950's garment and embellish it with details illustrating my theme. About half way through the 2nd year I started to realise that I needed something a bit more unique, and while googling terms to find some suitable illustrations to modify I stumbled on emotional baggage images. Eureka, all I needed was a suitable piece of baggage. As luck would have it, not long after that I was volunteering at a vintage clothing show and bought a great 1950's suitcase at a great price. Full steam ahead. My final piece is mixed media using painted and stencilled handmade paper, unusual fabrics, machine embroidery, quilting and machined text. Don't know if I've passed yet, but hope I will as the marks from our progressive monthly assignments were good.