New Work

This piece is the first in a series called "Border People," based on my experience here in Texas and my affection for the funerary traditions I see in the Van Horn cemetery and elsewhere in the region.

The title "Border People: Querida Mama" was taken from a marker here in Van Horn, and it means "beloved mother." The series will grow into a community of remembrances loosely based on the structure Edgar Lee Masters used for "A Spoon River Anthology"--all stories about people in a fictional small town. As with Masters, there will be some interweaving of those stories. I want to convey the love and devotion the people here have for those passed and tell something of this small town life at the border.

The center of the piece is a hand embroidered portrait about an inch tall, based on a photograph of my grandmother from 1936. This was stitched on a field of silk, and surrounded by hand-painted artificial flower blossoms attached with french knots. I used a combination of commercially purchased silks, velvet, and acetate ribbon in the piece, with hand-embroidery added.

I am working on a piece now with a woman buried at the foot of the mountain with two guardian jackrabbits watching over her. It is challenging and fun work, getting the sentiment, respect, and the technical aspects just right.

This piece is also viewable at www.hibberdmcgrath.com I've been blessed with a great relationship with this Breckenridge, Colorado gallery. Marty Hibberd and Terry McGrath will be taking this piece and future "Border People" pieces to the SOFA show on Navy Pier in Chicago this November.