Life of a star

Of course our most important 'star', that nearest to us is the Sun. It seemed obvious that our life-giving Sun needed inclusion in the story, which then had me thinking about the whole process of how stars are created and meet their demise - ultimately! I had never considered astronomy as a possible career, or even as a hobby, but my PhD involving exploration into the seasonal cycles for the Southern Hemisphere brought me a little closer to the bigger picture of the Universe - I admit, derived from a spiritual quest rather than a scientific adventure - like that of the Red Dwarf team! Many years ago, while looking for inspiration for another (yet to be finished) quilt, I had been given a large, coffee-table book by a friend called "Philip's Atlas of the Universe" by Sir Patrick Moore, touted as "the best introduction to astronomy" by the Journal of the British Astronomical Association. I first turned to it to look for colour and possible ways to use the many hand-dyed fabrics I have in my collection, which are awash with vermilions and pinks, greens and yellows all merging into one another - fabrics which have not yet found a place to manifest their beautiful potential. It's amazing how hand-dyeing can result in the photos taken  a starburst.  I then found page 174-5, entitled "The Lives of the Stars" (no, it was not a Women's Weekly), with a neat summary of the whole process, from birth to death, complete with images. the latter gave me all sorts of licence to play around with colours, and I had already started a small collection of circle templates to cut from - again using the fusion technique. So I was away, many small planets came to life in front of me. Later I would choose which ones would be used and where positioned.

This is my summary of a star's life, as gleaned from the Philip's Atlas (2003, London). Starting with a collapsing cloud of nebula material, stars begin to form with the rising temperatures, revealing a cluster as the associated gases are blown away. The cluster is gradually disrupted and becomes a loose stellar association. Stars with high mass are of the solar type, remaining for a very long period until they start running out of hydrogen ‘fuel’, causing them to expand and become a ‘red giant’ (not dwarf!). Following the gradual loss of the outer layers, resulting in the formation of a planetary nebula, the core of the original star is left as a white dwarf that continues to glow until the last of its heat is lost. It then becomes a cold, dead, black (not red!) dwarf. A more massive star may explode as a supernova at the ‘red giant’ stage, possibly ending as a 'neutron star' or 'pulsar'; if it is so dense that light cannot escape from it, it may produce a black hole. Many of these stages of star formation are included in Jan's quilt.

In reading about the various stages and types of stars in my Philip’s Atlas, showing images neatly numbered from one to fourteen, I am drawn to some of the small leftover scraps showing irresistible potential to represent another ‘stage’, maybe another galaxy. They are just too interesting to ignore. When all these stages in the life of a star have been allocated a virtual position in the ‘outer space’ of the background, (nothing is fully fixed in place yet) I go back to what seemed to be most important in Jan’s love of stars and galaxies, the cluster known as the Pleiades. I have been searching symbols on the internet, but so far the means for its representation has eluded me, which is becoming a source of frustration and also a tantalising challenge. I also need to consider how this cluster may be seen from the Southern Hemisphere, when so much of recorded knowledge emerges from a Northern Hemispheric point of view. Maybe there is no difference?

Symbols emerging: Moon phases

After quite a long break away from my blogspot (due to health issues), I'm returning to the creation of a story quilt made for Jan Roberts as a commission, where I am picking up from the previous post entitled 'Background noises'. I'm now describing the stages of populating the background with the symbols Jan had requested be included.

When it’s time to start working with the symbols for the surface of the quilt, their shape, design and placement, I find that these three aspects constantly interact with each other, creating a lot of chaos, indecision and unrest – all part of the process, I keep remembering. Perhaps this is a Beltane moment in creating, when everything is active and in constant motion.

The symbolic images of a Cancer birth sign and the Pleiades star cluster, requested by Jan, are filled with meaning and imagery, both visual and metaphoric. Then there is the moon’s cycle that gives rise and fall to the tides, I know to be very important to Jan’s spirituality.  As are the various phases of the moon, Earth and Sun relationship is an essential element; and then I start to think about the life cycle of a star. Fireworks do seem to be an appropriate expression of the creation of the Universe, though at the moment their representation is the least of my concerns. Sparks have been ignited from my reading of the stories that abound about this seemingly quite significant star cluster, the Pleiades, but the way to represent these seven sister stars remains elusive, and actually does not become manifest until the very last.[1] Meantime I continue to do the research into the content Jan would like to see represented in her story of the Universe quilt, seeking visual form for these symbols – colour, shape and size – as well as how they connect to her life here in the continent we call Australia.

As is often the case, I decide to start with the moon phases. The four phases I propose to include are the full dark, the new moon, a half moon waxing into a full moon. Beginning with a large empty pre-cut circle of calico, I start by overlapping many tiny triangles, another symbol of the female principle in Creation, cut from a wide selection of pale fabrics – laces, synthetics, scraps cut from scarves, all prepared with a fusible agent on the back, and then ironed into place. This way the face of the moon is built up; it is very large, but scale is not something I can deal with in the process of making the symbols, which will likely depend on final placements. I have also cut a full black moon from a single hand-dyed piece, and again I remain prepared that it may not be the final size - though both do so in the end! 

Like the symbol of the pubic triangle and the Female Divinity, the plan to attach the moon using a piece of netting derives from ancient story and understandings. The symbol of the net is very ancient, hidden in stories from around the world, the most significant for me being the fact that a net was placed over the ‘omphalos’ at Delphi – and can be seen in sculptures that represent the ‘navel’ of the world in various places around the Mediterranean, as well as in Aboriginal rock carvings. The mystery of the transformative spirit in Creation is symbolised by these multiple ‘geodisic markers’ of the birthplace of the Universe. Nets are embedded in so many stories of Creation told by peoples around the world. Their physical construction represents the apparent contradiction of holding while also releasing, of exploring while containing. Metaphorically, they tell tales of the subtle and versatile, presence and the invisible, where past, present and future, time and space meld to make Creation manifest.

[1] Munya Andrews, (2014 ed), The Seven Sisters of the Pleiades: stories from around the world, Spinifex:Melbourne

Delphi omphalos

Delos omphalos, which alternatively has the snake forming the creative 'net'

Windows into the bush (630x330mms or 2’1”x 1’1”)

It has been over six months since last post, due to another perhaps more serious health issue that, since February 2016 has resulted in my attending the Day Suite every three weeks at the Skin Cancer Clinic of Westmead Hospital, for immunotherapy treatment. Tomorrow will be the twelfth infusion, and my hope is that it will, if not destroy the melanoma lesions in my liver and lung, at least keep them in check - as it seems to be doing for now! I've decided to post the story of the little quilt completed for Sheila in April, before having finished the earlier story of Jan's Universe story quilt, because that is quite a longer story, and may take more thought and time to pull together. So here is the creation story for a quilt commissioned by Sheila at the beginning of the year....and more to come soon with a look back at 2015 for Jan's story quilt.

As I go through my rather well ordered stash of fabrics I think to myself that I must have thought I was going to live forever – or perhaps have many future lives. The colour combinations of the fabrics as they are grouped in the plastic tubs remind me that when I first saw them I most likely had a project in mind, which then floated off into the ether. I started quilting (and collecting) in 1994, 22 years ago, so my stash is quite extensive! I think it is indicative of my birth number. Being a number one, I am typically an initiator, a generator of many ideas, and dreams maybe. The latest quilt for Sheila began by resurrecting a collection of small swatches made several years ago to try out the technique of raw-edge appliqués, both positive and in reverse: that is, applying shapes to the surface, and cutting back to reveal the fabric hidden beneath. These swatches of gum-leaf shapes and colours were made a while back now, but seemed to fit Sheila’s general idea for a ‘tree scape’ - something to celebrate her love of trees in the bush. I had started with the idea of more distant landscape, but when I showed the sample swatches to Sheila, she liked them. So, the focus zoomed in, and the more serious work of design and further construction began.

More swatches were made, using the same fabrics from my collection that I’d begun with: hand dyed cottons, many by Dianne Johnston of Queensland. I wanted the leaves to continue to dance in all their shapes and sizes, in the light of bright sunshine and mottled shade, coming to the forefront and blending back into the dense Australian bush. I wanted it to show the rather wild variety of colours each leaf goes through until they finally settled as leaf litter to nourish the Earth that gave them life and form. Here is the final result: a leaf medley for Sheila, which I called “See through Me”.

As a result of the quilting process, gum-leaf outlines are scattered across the back of the quilt. For the dedication I decided to use a screen-print done many years ago by friend Sue Swanson, based on an image from the “Swinging Bridges” series of Goddess images, published by dear friend thea Gaia (then Rainbow) in the 1980s.  Originally carved from Phoenician ivory in the 8^th century BCE, she has been stored in the Iraq Museum, Baghdad, (- and sadly, may no longer exist). She is now printed onto fabric, has an open face, showing a serene and all-knowing smile.  As a goddess worshipped by early Middle Eastern peoples, ‘She’, (the one who is known by ten thousand names), represented the power of the feminine principle in divinity, and was given the attribution of being the Creatrix capable of seeding all possibility according to her wisdom. 

For this quilt I chose to honour the spirit of “She-of-Ten-Thousand-Names” with name she was known by, Astarte, she who is the See-r, with the additional invocation from the publication: “seeing with her vision, following her line of sight – we reach beyond boundaries.” It is an invitation to realise that 'there is more than meets the eye'; to see more, allow more in through the eyes and become more finely attuned to 'seeing through' by becoming more open to the reality of our interdependence with the natural world. It is the leaves from trees that give us the oxygen we need to breathe, for example, rather than trees as commodities from which to make reckless financial gain, one way or another. Derived from other more ancient wisdoms of human life in relation to the Earth as our home that I had come across in researching ideas for Sheila’s quilt, I included this thought: “The land does not belong to us…we belong to the land”.

Quilt for Caren's son and daughter-in-law's wedding

This is the quilt made for Caren as a wedding present for her son and his partner, married on November 6, 2015. The American "barnyard" block is used - very simple and effective...can be done using a jelly-roll or just simple 2 1/2" squares as a starting point, to end up with 6 1/12" block unfinished. Though it is a scrappy quilt design, Caren is a working visual artist, so has a very keen eye for colour and placement. She wanted primarily blue overtones, but we nevertheless included with some stronger blocks, such as those in red and darker blues such as seen here, with lighter tones for contrast. It was a 'queen' (maybe 'king') size quilt, with the final measurement of 3' 1" (940cms) long by 2' 4" (705cms) wide. the top looked fabulous, with blue borders, and the backing added drama (pity, no pic). It was commercially quilted. I heard that the newly weds loved it.

Background noises

I have received a commission to make a queen-bed sized quilt as a wedding present, and the need is pretty imminent: to have the top finished by mid October at the latest. It’s not a complicated block, and I’m moving through it pretty fast. Nevertheless I glance back at the Living Universe quilt on the easel and play with at odd moments, allowing myself to keep the flame alive. 

The background space seems to have a long time manifesting itself, and I am conscious of the need to keep placement of the symbols to be used within the frame. I am surprised about the demands of what I have thought of as the ‘background’, having expected decisions about how to represent Jan's request for her Cancer birth sign, the Pleiades star cluster and her love of firecrackers might demand more attention. Clearly the background structure is the springboard on which to place the the icons representing Jan's relationship and feeling for the cosmos. The result is that I unpick machine-stitched sections and replace them with other fabrics, having 'tested' them visually in a variety of spaces in the overall composition on the easel, as the symbols Jan has requested drift in and out of my consciousness, without taking on a clear form, nor a position as yet. I am curious as to why the ‘background’ to the Universe story seems to be demanding such attention – then realise that the background is the context for the myriads of unfolding stories: a living Universe cannot be ‘backgrounded’. So, maybe more work needs to be done here before attending to the development and placement of the symbolic icons.

While I had thought the background had finished evolving, it keeps on manifesting , with more detail. I’m encouraged by a piece of fabric which looks like a field of wildflowers. This is the flourishing that we as Earth inhabitants know to be the effect of our particular position in the living Universe. Home Earth, as the daughter of our star, the Sun, supports myriads of life-forms. Looking again at the balance of the colour, newly introduced by the floral carpet, the bold orange red of the 'flaring forth' seems to be too dominant, for something that occurred over 15 billion years ago. Huh, – how to tell the story of the evolution of the Universe! How to imagine that and then represent it, and to know that it is still occurring in our expanding Universe. Nevertheless, with these few alterations, I think I am finally satisfied that the background is no longer in flux.

Not quite yet! On taking another look, I notice a small oversight at each of the corners, especially the right hand and bottom borders, which seem unfinished, and therefore the piece is un-contained. Although the context is limitless space, I become aware that something is needed to pull the composition into a confined space, that of my easel...to bring it back to Earth. Below is its final form. including a slightly diminished firey hint of the 'flaring forth' of the Universe over fifteen billion years ago, and the resultant flourishing of so many life-forms on Earth many billions of years later in the shape of a floral ellipse (a shape since early times symbolising the space of the life source, the female vulva, or 'vesica piscis'). Another rim of fire has been added, representing our planet's allurement to Sun, and that of other planets in our solar system. Withe the starry corners containing the background, I now feel set to start paying attention to the formation and position of the symbols that Jan wants in her quilt and any others that might come to the fore.

---

Brian Swimme & Thomas Berry, (1992), The Universe Story, NY:Orbis
Barbara Walker, (1988), The Woman's Dictionary of Symbols and Sacred Objects, San Francisco:Harper & Row

Where to from here?

Fabrics thought suitable for the Universe quilt had been pulled out of my stash many moons ago and stored in a tub. With a nearly 5 months hiatus, which included surgery and radiotherapy for breast cancer, I'm back on track! At this time of Imbolc, as we head towards the Easter Equinox, I have taken them out into the light to start to choose those to include, and those to put aside. The hand-dyes are my favourites, and have been collected over many years. I also like the contrast with the printed commercial cottons. It's a delicate situation, and I'm feeling very tentative, but I'll trust the process and get started on the fabrics. The drawing has been transferred to butcher's paper, from which I will cut template shapes to guide cutting the materials. It's only then that I will be able to play around and make decisions about the basic background colours. Is there any 'background' in/to the Universe; seems to me that the design I've drawn would look just as well upside-down... or on its side...

At the moment I'm thinking to hold off with the pink tonals, and work with the purples and blues. The only way to know is to start cutting!

Possible textile applications

Starting to think about textile applications I have re-visited the method used to ‘create’ the fabric for some bowls made many years ago, by cutting fabrics into small triangles, overlaying them and then stitching back and forth to anchor them. For this 3D installation of three textile bowls, I was working with the theme of Virgin, Mother, Crone, as THE Source. The triangular shape used represents the pubic triangle, a symbol used from earliest times and understood to signify the seat of all life expressed through the female body. There is no other way of interpreting this reality: it is not ‘faith’; it is physical fact. Consequently, I have started to cut some smallish triangular shapes, mainly in white – but think I’ll need red also, with Vliesofix backing (iron-on glue) to enable attachment – but still unsure of how they will be used. Below is the red bowl, symbolizing the life-giving blood of Mothers on the inside. The outside is covered in black to represent woman as Crone, growing old in the mystery that is her wisdom.

I have started making some sketches in order to consider how the concepts might be fitted into the form. Here's the first drawing...more to come no doubt. this one shows the symbols for the constellation of Cancer (crab) and the cluster of the Pleiades, including the seven point star also represented on the Australian flag. I want to include other imagery: moon phases, the life cycle of stars, fire-crackers (at the request of Jan...would you believe?) It's starting out towards the light.