A butterfly is the last image to be added into the centre of the leaf litter that circles the white sliver of a new moon under the waxing full moon. Instead of the little possum at the centre of the protective wreath of leaves, there is a butterfly hovering over a crescent new moon, the left as it first appears in the southern hemisphere. A small leadlight butterfly made from orange glass and bought many years ago from the local Ivy Markets, where I used to sell my homemade chutneys sat beside a photo of Leo and Mel on their wedding day, and a candle I lit every day to farewell Amara on her journey. The glistening golden delicacy of the pink damask fabric used is transformed into Amara’s soul, taking wing as a butterfly. She sits prepared for take-off at the centre of the quilt.
The butterfly’s wings are Leo and Mel flying together in harmony and sharing rhythm, creating the space for the birth of new life. Spread out they form the oval shape of a ‘vesica piscis’, the life-giving womb. It is also the shape of the Sheila-na-gig forms from pre-Christian times, with legs apart to hold the entrance to her womb open for all to see, a gesture that to reminds us that what emerges from Earth’s womb must return to the womb of the Great Mother who gives us life. Such is the potential for woman’s womb for manifesting creation. (But don’t get me wrong – I support all decisions made by a woman in relation to her capacity to bring life into the world, or not to. It is after all every woman’s right to decide.)
The fabric for the butterfly is a small piece of a treasure trove, given to me over twenty years ago by a woman I met by chance at a gathering of women in Umina on the central coast of NSW. I was invited to present my quilts for the Wheel of the Year at a local women’s health centre. After showing the eights quilts for each season and talking about my inspirations for each in relation to the diametrical differences between the southern and northern hemispheres, a woman named Nikki approached me. She offered me some very special fabrics that originated in Syria, Damascus to be exact. Her father, who was in the British army, had been stationed in Palestine during the WWII and had sent back the fabrics to his wife and children. These ‘damask’ fabrics are woven through with thread quite literally made from gold.
I listened to her story. The wall hanging I made for her from these exquisite fabrics had been fashioned into tiny dresses and capes for her and her young sister, and another for their mother. They became the materials from which to create a family wall hanging that gave visual and symbolical recognition to at least some of their lifetime memories and stories. I knew it was a trust she placed in me to bring these mixed memories into visual space for her - to be a form of healing for her through the symbolism created by the use of these exquisite fabrics. (see Archive February 2011)
However, such wonderful complex fabrics are not easy to work with, especially in small pieces; they need to be stabilised and the edges are liable to fray easily when machine stitched. But the golden glimmer emanating from the flowers and other motifs interwoven into the fabric throughout is irresistible. The butterfly is attached into the middle of the protective leaves, flying across the new waxing to a full orange moon. The question is: how to keep Amara’s butterfly firmly in place, while letting her fly to visit the various flowers that provide her with nourishment? After machine stitching through the layers, I decided that a fitting adornment was in order, a crown of some sort. She has been adorned with beads across the tops of her wings, which together with her golden ‘eyebrows’ sketched in, she wears a crown - and she is the Queen.
The butterfly image is also a reminder of the fragility and diversity that is Life on Earth – but most importantly, the transforming and transformative beauty of our natural world. I have been trying to create a little memorial that also brings hope and sense of renewal in observing the cycles of nature – particularly through the fecund body of woman, with the collaboration of man in creating life – and that this little life, cut so short, might find a way back to us so that we can give her or him the love we hold ready.
Great insight!
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