Bridget O'Connell
"WOW! Fire Burns!"
36"h x 30"w, plus tails.
Maid from felted wool.
2 layers of blue wool were layed down and slightly felted. I cut the disc of blue from these and lay it on 3 layers of wool - the red rising energy lines were layed on top and all this was felted using warm soapy water, rolled in a matchstuck blind.
The Dishtowel: - For 12 month I used it to dry the dishes. Then to further age the cotton, I used it for a while as a floor cloth. After this it got 'the earth, water, air, and fire treatment.' It was buried in the soil for a few weeks, then it lay in the well where I get my drinking water, nare my house by the hasel wood.Then it hung in the air for some time, and lastly I threw it on a small fire of stick - to feel the heat! So what remained was little. Before I threw it on the fire I cut out the ' wow '! Mom! word and three apples out, after the fire I collected up the charred remains and tied them to the felt tails.
I love things that look old and shamanic, which conjure up other worlds. I made a ' crane bag ' from silver lame, for some ash. There is an apple each, for the crone, the mother and the maiden at, the foot of the cauldron - the old three legged pot ( from black satin - a smooth contrast to the felt ). I opened holes on the top upper dark part and put silver behind to suggest spirits or plants floating around.
On the circumference of the world ( blue disc) are written the names of the Celtic festivals, which were very much tied into animals, crops and nature. The brownish wool on both sides comes from lichen colour, and I see these as dancing elementals or fire spitits who quarrel the cauldron. The image on the screen is missing the words - aer = air, tine = fire, uisce = water, talamh = earth.
© 1999 Bridget O'Connell. Threen, Ballymote, Co. Sligo, Ireland. 011-353-071-8928-6
Return to Dishtowel Artist List
Turtle Moon Studios
Susan Shie and James Acord
Contact us
| Home | | Classes
| | Gallery | | Green
Quilts | |Links |
| Resume | | Stuff
to Buy | |Turtle Trax Diary |
| Visit Jimmy's Leather Studio
Web site design © Susan Shie and Jan Cabral 1997. All subsequent web site work, ©Susan Shie 1997-2005.
This page updated by Susan Shie, January 30, 2005.
Web site hosting by Key to the Web, Ltd. ©2005.