Hidegarde's Feather

Hildegarde of Bingen was a nun, dedicated to God from the age of eight, a tithe child, being the tenth in the family. From a very early age she had visions, I often wonder how we would treat a child now, who "had visions", haloperidol perhaps. But Hildegarde, who lived in an age of belief rather than reason, was allowed to be who she was, in the service of her God. She was taught by an anchoress or holy hermit called Jutta. In her later life Hildegarde became head of her convent, was consulted by the church and state luminaries of her time, composed music which we can still hear today, and had a number books published, with illuminations depicting her visions: all of this 800 years ago. There is a really good biography of her here (on one of the best history sites I know of)

A group of images from her works, arranged four square, appear full of mystery and meaning, like tarot cards

I looked to her illuminations for several things:

Pattern- as with many works of this period, pattern is used to fill in backgrounds, decoration rather than realism. I've used little groups of pattern, based on the illuminations, to fill some areas of the ground cloth

Colour, she uses a lot of red in her images, which chimes with the vibrant feather. I've also used the colour of the thread to either match the background, or to modify it, allowing the "visions" in the cloth to shine.

Otherness, the illuminations, depict concepts like devils, heaven, that which is not of this visible world. Curious creatures blow celestial breezes that infuse the world with mystery.

a translucent creature swims amongst the stars of heaven, ringed around with silver; a little fish dives in the deep, some mysterious flowers flow by.

So, the incidental patterns from the dye on this piece of cloth - one of Connie and Harry's sheets, don't forget - suggests the feather image, and my mind says "on the breath of God" because it likes to put words together, and knows of Hildegarde, and elements of a 12th Century clever, fey, mystic woman find expression in the stitch.

I shall take this to my next Studio 11 session for show and tell, and to get some ideas about backing, then you can see it all ...

The back

Which you don't often get to see, but I have show in previous posts because I like backs too. Using a loose muslin on the back allows you to weave your thread in and out at the start and end of stitching. It keeps the stitches secure and the back neat.

and contains the ghost of the image

Stitching progresses

I've not been entirely occupation'less since my post last month, but did get into the dreaful doldrums with my City and Guilds, so have withdrawn from that. I hate giving up on things, but it was all getting too much and my tutor Barbara was very understanding. I have felt a great sense of relief since doing so, which suggests it was the right decision. I've also felt there is more time to work on other things like this.

My feather is developing, as is the breath of God. The phrase comes from Hildegard of Bingen, who was a 12th Century mystic, writer, composer and Benedictine Abbess. Her music is sublime, I fell in love with it many years ago and so wanted to find out more about her. I was very interested by her illuminations to the several writings she produced, on both her visions and the spiritual life in general. When I saw the way the dye had blended and spread on this piece of fabric I was put in mind of a feather, albeit one from a very vivid bird, swirling a cosmic burst of energy, and thought of Hildegard's image. I have been revisiting her illuminations to try and find motifs to use on this, to tie it in visually with her work, whilst still keeping to the spirit of the cloth itself.

She seems to have been a woman of great individuality and strength, in a society where women often found it hard to express themselves. In fact, the religious life was, I suspect, one of the few paths to relative freedom that a woman could take in those days. It released her from the necessity of marriage and provided a space to be herself, albeit within a context that was still primarily under the rule of men

You can read here what inspired this phrase, in which she uses the simile of a feather, floating on the breeze to express her sense of her relationship with God. Whilst I no longer have any faith to speak of I still have a deep respect for that of others, and an inner sense that, perhaps, this physical realm is not quiet all that there is to life; so agnostic rather than atheist, with leanings towards mindfulness as a wise path for living. I try to bring that mindfulness into my stitching, working slowly rather than rushing to finish a piece, so that the imagery and flow of stitching has time to develop..

Leaving City and Guilds has also freed my mind to think more about what I'll do in Christine's class come September. I'm going to stick with Creative Development as that seems to be a context I'm enjoying. I might just take the year to explore shibori in more depth; I keep finding myself thinking about what effect is would have if I did this or that, folded this way, stitched here, clamped there. I do have several books to inspire me!

A little bit of stitch in progress

One of my hand dyed pieces, not from my recent foray, but from Christine's classes. Not finished by any means, but coming along

A feather on the breath of God