"The
long and convoluted path I was taking eventually kept returning to my
pagan heart. Ovid's 'Apollo and Daphne' could no longer be a side-line
to my main project it had to become my sole inspiration. I also
realised that I had taken on this project for the excitement of doing
something quite different from my usual work but along
the way I had persuaded myself that I would not be 'up to' a textile
project and that I must use glass in my piece. However, it finally
dawned on me that it was the glass element that was blocking me and that
I really wanted to work with other materials even if that meant that
the quality of the finished piece would be somewhat suspect against the
high standards of the rest of the group.
It is ironic that this piece will now always remind me of Tess of the Durbervilles as I was listening to it on audio whilst working on it. Just as the beautiful Daphne would rather be transformed into a tree than be taken by Apollo so Tess ends up committing a desperate act to escape the clutches of the man who tries to control her. The idea of nature and transformation being a liberation from the ties that bind really stirs me up. However, sewing lime bark bast is, indeed, a bit of a ....! "
It is ironic that this piece will now always remind me of Tess of the Durbervilles as I was listening to it on audio whilst working on it. Just as the beautiful Daphne would rather be transformed into a tree than be taken by Apollo so Tess ends up committing a desperate act to escape the clutches of the man who tries to control her. The idea of nature and transformation being a liberation from the ties that bind really stirs me up. However, sewing lime bark bast is, indeed, a bit of a ....! "
