Gaia Speaks

Late one winter night, I was walking in my neighborhood park, thinking sadly about how wantonly we are treating our beautiful planet. These words then came into my mind:

I have love for you
Love each other
Go slow
Be kind
See the Cycles
Be of the Planet

I knew I needed to make this experience into a quilt. 

I am a woman of European descent, born and raised along the shores of Lake Michigan.  I have a degree in anthropology and archeology, which has taught me the beauty and value of living in a multi-cultural world.  I am more and more sure that the wisdom held by indigenous elders and teachers around the world is key to our future, and I am grateful to them for speaking out.  They are all telling us to honor the planet herself and also all the beings who live here with us.  Our “western” culture, as it is generally called, has long abused and claimed ownership of all of Life, with a capital L.  The planet is alive.  The planet is beautiful.  The planet is generous.  The planet needs us to acknowledge that we are a part of Life.  We need to “Be of the Planet”, as Gaia is saying on my quilt.

A Quilt from a Galaxy Far, Far Away

 

For the past few years, I've been creating a quilt series called Something From Nothing.  These are generally just-for-fun, design experiments.  In addition, I've been making a more major piece, like this one, each year as my entry for the Fine Art of Fiber show.  (More info on Something From Nothing: intro to the series and quilts of 2015.  Previous fiber show entries: Cleopatra's Fan 2014 and What the Birds See 2013.)

The title of the quilt is Gas Giant.  No, this is not Saturn.  This is a planet in a solar system or galaxy that we haven't seen yet.  Gas Giant is probably the largest piece so far in the series (78" x 44").  Being about outer space, it needs to be pretty vast, right?