I'm delighted to share with you the latest of my felted & stitched wall hangings, depicting my interpretation of the Chakras. It was quite a process; in fact the very first Chakra drawings I made were back in 2010. Moving on from these, it took me nearly 3 years from making the initial drawings for this textile piece in 2014 through to completion in Spring 2017; working on it in tandem with other projects and keeping 'the thread' going. It has been a very personal journey, which I can liken to creating a tool for inspiring wellbeing, as well as a physical and aesthetic journey with the materials, texture and colour. This Spring it launched into being on my living room wall and now hangs from the ceiling to the floor, as a full length strip of vibrant colour. Chakra is Sanskrit for 'Wheel', with Chakras representing energy centres within the body, that spin like wheels. For this felted textile I have combined wet felting with needle felting, embellishing the design with hand and machine stitch, as well as tiny beads and netting in places. Each Chakra felt piece was made individually, with the qualities of the particular Chakra in mind and how I related to it. I then used the felt to help shape those attributes and the feelings they inspired in me. Once I had made the basis of all the 7 Chakras, I then sewed each one onto the fabric backing that forms the hanging, expanding and embellishing them further once they were in situ on the material. It is a joy for me to have realised this piece; not only for the finished hanging but because the whole process was really valuable. The qualities the Chakras evoke for me cannot always be put into words, yet I have found it fascinating to help develop my understanding from what others have written about them; especially Siri Datta, Caroline Myss, Theresa Sundt and Susan Shumsky. I meditate on the glowing Chakra colours regularly, envisaging them in my mind's eye on the relevant areas of my body. They are like food for my spirit and seeing them every day represented by the felt gives me great sustenance and pleasure. They help me feel centred and balanced, encouraging me to reach for my dreams. I hope you enjoy the images below. I have included some of my initial drawings too. You can also see a 'work in progress' image within the slides on my About page. |
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