I did a heap of banners back when I did the Epistory series. Then I did banners again in maybe 2013 (here some displayed so people would come take them away).
They work nicely in my lounge room which has tall ceilings.
Started some new ones from the base of wallpapers I had bought at reverse garbage a few years back (trying to use more of what i have).
The brown/orange one is still in progress, but the blue one is pretty much done.
Base of wall paper. Second / third layers on blue and lilac and pink and white tissue. Fourth-ish layer of white sewing pattern tissue.
Then I wrote the words of Bell-birds by Henry Kendall along the pattern lines, and then along the rivers caused by the tissue (i love that there’s a natural river-like texture to it). Using more words hand written now, since I saw the post about how no one writes by hand any more – no postcards, no letters, just maybe journals (although i just journaled with an AI bot so who am i to say?).
I’ve used Bell-birds before – I learnt an excerpt by heart when I was in second class (about 8). My favourite lines include
Softer than slumber and sweeter than singing…
…light that is love to the flowers
But I do like the rhythm and the subject of it. We used to drive from Sydney to Lithgow many weekends when I was about that age, and we always loved going up Bell-bird hill past Bilpin when we took the Bell’s Line of Road route to Lithgow. We’d wind down the windows to hear them.
The orange piece I’m still finishing – i wanted something to work with the antique / aged patina wall in my stairwell (right now I fashioned a temporary piece from a piece of cardboard box, a table runner and a necklace, which you’ll see in the images below as well, (why not?). I got side tracked by the blue one which i only began because the orange one was drying out.
I have had the thought to make a Stuart-Davis-inspired piece, and it was goint to be “next”, but then i figured I could in fact connect the two, so working on a Stuart Davis side-track which will lead me back to the orange one (maybe).
The thing about making multi-layered pieces like these is that they are so enchanting all the way through – which is why i gave you some of the in progress images of the orange piece. it’s much browner now it has pattern paper.
