A Way Forward

Just as the Palestinian doctor believes that peace can be found through medicine, I know that art and music are another way of finding common ground and building a peaceful future.

Someone sent me a link to this group of seven Muslim and Jewish musicians, which is fantastic:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=n__QYY2AYmg

Change of Plan

Little update. I've decided to do eight hanging pieces instead of 12. I wasn't liking how some of the prints were looking, but I also wanted to symbolise 1948 (the Nakbar) with some kind of 4 8 formation. And I think this will work better with four last portraits in a different style.

(And yes, probably only I will understand the implications of the 4 - 8 idea - but isn't that what art's about!)

Stitching Stitching Stitching...

Wow, this is going to take a long time. Each one of these panels has so far taken about two to three hours to make, and I've got 12 of them! Pete suggested that I do less, but it's the scale that I want to emphasise, so i think it's worth it.

So, I started with my 12 enlarged photo copies and then did some small testers on the chiffon (which is surprisingly easy to work on).

 Quite quickly I decided that I might well leave the photocopy on the image. I do really like the effect of stitched paper and, because I want the impact of the pieces to be powerful, I don't want to risk removing the paper and not leaving enough detail.

If I do this, I've learnt that I do need to stitch over all the paper. For instance, I went back later and stitched more into the piece below.

I like the back, but don't want to run the risk of them not being clear enough. However, obviously I would have preferred to have put the images on nicer paper (if I'd known I was going to do this).

 What I'm doing, therefore, is experimenting with distressing the paper with hot water (and my electric toothbrush!) to make it softer, and more integrated with the fabric. So far this seems to have worked quite well; not that you can really tell (see below).

I like the idea of getting rid of some of the paper (again, i do really like the one above) but being in control of how much I remove and how much I leave (where I think it is necessary in terms of detail).

I wanted to hand draw the keys as, whilst I want the people to be quite solid (for they are real) the keys are a more ephemeral symbol of a lost homeland.

The writing is readable but comes out quite child-like, and, unfortunately, writing in straight lines has never been one of my strong points. The childishness isn't my intention, it just seems I can't machine write any other way! I've been writing it out first on A4 paper to give some consistency in layout.

 This took over an hour to stitch as there was so much to stitch over. (And with the thread breaking every five minutes, it's definitely a labour of love).