Interpretations - The Hare and the Fox - Christmas gifts

These two pieces have been constants on my work table for more than 2 years.  I gave myself a goal to finish them both and mount them for Christmas and to offer them to my daughter as a gift for her new home.  K.2 is a direct person and while working on the Hare, she had indicated that she would like to claim it as hers.  A loyal admirer of my work, it was validating and pleasurable to hear her be so adamant about wanting it.  What she didn't know was that I had already begun the Fox piece.  When both were finished in early December and I had chosen the framing for them both and mounted them, it was evident that they could not be separated and that if I was to offer the Hare as a gift, the Fox would go with it.



During the two weeks that these two pieces were completed and K and N had not arrived for Christmas, I displayed them on a wall in the living room so that my husband and I could live with them for a while.  It seemed over this fortnight that the Hare and the Fox had taken their permanent place in our home and in our life.  Each time we looked at the works, they seemed to speak to us in a different way.  I knew it was going to be hard to part with them when K.2 left to return to her home in Los Angeles.

Mentally, I was bargaining with her.  Why don't you leave them with us for a while and in exchange, we'll buy you a chair for your new place… or something like that.  It wasn't that I didn't want her to have them but more that I wanted to have a little more time with my new furry friends.

As it turned out, K.2 made the adjustment to my separation from these works easier.  She had come to visit with her own furry friend, Georgie Girl, her much-loved, delightfully discreet dog.  GG is a cross between a spaniel and a poodle, or this is what we have surmised.  K.2 had taken her from the refuge and gave her a home.  GG's start in life was sad, as most of the stories of the animals at the shelter.  In her case, she was abandoned and this hard beginning made her delicate and tentative.  With the love and attention that K.2 and her partner give her, GG is a close to perfect dog, never barking, shyly coming into our arms, responding quickly and obediently to K.2 and travelling well.  


But back to the gift of the Hare and the Fox.  What with a large suitcase, a computer bag, the dog carrier and handbag, K.2 decided that it would be difficult to take the frames back without risk of breakage, so she suggested (with some encouragement from me) to leave them with me until our next trip to California at which point I would bring them to her.

And so, The Hare and The Fox are now semi-permanently installed on our living room wall in a place that we can feature them and enjoy them for the time that they will remain with us.  

I have often said that each work is rather like a child.  I give so much time and creative energy to bringing it into the world, it is hard to see it leave the house.  In this case, they are staying on for a while longer, time enough for me to wean myself from them and finally say goodbye to them knowing that they will go out into the world and be enjoyed and appreciated in their new home.

Barbara Hammett's William Morris Birds (2)

I first posted on these projects in January this year.  It seems appropriate that I am close to completing all three of these projects as the year draws to an end.  I began the background of the third piece last night and anticipate having this work in my hands as the family gathers around the fire during the Christmas holidays.  

I think that next week I'll have the Hare and the Fox pieces (posted in March 2013) back from the framer.  And then the question will be whether these three bird subjects will be mounted in frames, singly or in a group, or whether I'll make them up into cushions.  I also have a bell pull finished as well as another cushion.  They are all worked with the same deep blue background which sets off the colours so beautifully.

Here is Morris' definition of art in his lecture 'Art and Labour' delivered in 1884.  He said:

'…by art, I do not mean only pictures and sculpture, nor only these and architecture, that is, beautiful building properly ornamented;  these are only a portion of art, which comprises, as I understand the word a great deal more;  beauty produced by the labour of man both mental and bodily, the expression of the interest man takes in the life of man upon the earth with all its surroundings, in other words the human pleasures of life is what I mean by art.'

These words resonate with me.

A gesture

Given that the Christmas season is almost here, I am working my way through the list of gifts I want to give.   For the children that will be visiting over the holidays, I think I am relatively well organized.  As they grow older, gifts are simpler since the focus is less on the gifts and more on the time spent together.  This may sound clichéd, but I feel this is a true statement.

One member of the extended family will not be with us and I was looking for a way to show our caring but not overwhelm with a monied present.  So my choice is an embroidered card with a message.  A gift of time and affection.

The recipient is a sensitive and creative person.  This small piece in silk on linen, mounted on a archival card seems so appropriate.