TIME CIRCLES


 Rust or Iron has always been a part of my life since my early days as a potter.  I no longer glaze pots and commit them to the fire for the iron oxides to coat them with colour.  Time passing has always been a theme of my work since the nineties and it still speaks to me but in cloth now.  We use and create with iron for its strength, dig it up raw from the earth and cast it into all manner of things.  Gradually as time goes on the iron breaks down and rusts and returns to the earth from where it came.  On cloth it leaves beautiful markings with additions of vinegar and salt.  The serendipity of this is the same as a kiln opening, you do not know really what you finally get till all is revealed.  Different weights of cloths give different markings, temperature and time of the year have an effect as well.  Nature has its say on the final imprints on your piece.  I created this quilt with circles of rust, time and nature moves in cycles and circles.  I used onion skins for the lower half of the quilt for colour, boiling on the stove.  Heat still plays a part in my work, the passing of time is still there in each piece, speaking quietly now, in a whisper, not a roar as it did when I was younger. 

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