Title: | Bloom Where You Are Planted |
Inventory#: | BR000160 |
Size: | 5" x 5" |
Frame Size: | 6" x 6" |
Medium: | Textile Art |
These pieces are influenced by generations of women in my family. The subject is inspired by the beautiful work my sister does as a florist. Living above her flower shop means that I'm often gifted with incredible blooms. Most recently, that was a fistfull of poppies and ranunculus in a riot of pinks that inspired these pieces. This series is made more special by the recent discovery of a stash of vintage fabrics my mom had in the attic. My great-grandmother ran a bed and breakfast in Duxbury, MA. (The house is now owned by the historical society.) She amassed a wonderful collection of linens that she'd use at the inn. She and her daughter, my grandmother, were both accomplished needleworkers, and many of the pieces that my mom stashed include their embroidered details. I selected an exquisite antique Irish linen in a beautiful ivory color for the grounding fabric for this series. The fabric is soft yet sturdy, elegant yet unassuming. My mom passed away five years ago, and my grandmother and great-grandmother many years before that. For me, these pieces are an offering and a conversation between the women in our lives, women who often still speak to us long after they are gone. The title is inspired by a pillow my grandmother had needlepointed that was always on her couch during family visits, and which now sits on my dad's couch. How lucky that my sister is now surrounded by flowers and that she shares her offerings with me, and now me with you.
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Biography
Jennifer Brown creates textile art that is a celebration of her love of texture and color and an homage to the natural world. Jennifer grew up on Martha’s Vineyard, and has returned as a year-round islander. The island landscape inspires the compositions of her pieces--each is a meditation on the meeting of land and sea and a reflection of the gentle curves of the shorelines and the paths that carve their way through the woodlands and meadows that make up this special and beautiful place. She hopes to evoke the same sense of calm and wonder that we feel at the sea in each of her pieces. After working in book publishing for nearly two decades, she now balances her time between her art making and freelance editing.
Medium/Technique
Jennifer uses linen, cotton, and linen-cotton blended fabrics in her pieces. The backgrounds are often machine pieced (but sometimes hand stitched) with polyester thread using quick improv patchwork methods. The details are hand stitched in cotton thread using applique and reverse applique techniques. Embroidered elements are hand sewn in cotton, linen, and metallic threads.