Frame:
Cedar driftwood (designed and made by Colin Hamilton of  Thuja Wood Art
Lace:
Enamelled copper and stainless steel wires 
Semi-precious stones and beads: 
Bamboo Coral,  Clear Quartz Crystal, Hawk’s Eye, Rudraksha Seeds

 Technique: handmade bobbin lace – TesseLace pattern

Dimensions in centimetres: h:43 x w:43 x d:5
Dimensions in inches: h:17 x w:18 x d:2

If cold winter months are good for something else than hibernating, it is for lacemaking. Long, dark nights offer quiet time for uninterrupted work and allow sustained focus that reaches almost a state of meditation.

Cocooning in my studio, I was looking for an idea for lace that would fit in one of Colin’s driftwood frames. Dried by sun and fresh air the wood feels so warm, as it is radiating energy collected over many summers. Just like standing cedar trees, the driftwood offers assurance that we, too, will survive yet another winter. Living on the West Coast of Canada for thirty years, I came to understand why cedar has been considered sacred by indigenous people.

majestic cedar tree in my backyard

An empty red cedar driftwood frame has been standing on the shelf in my studio for more than a year, patiently waiting for lace. Upon invitation, the images kept appearing, but none of them strong enough to stay and prompt me into action. One day, on a walk through fresh snow in Kwomais Point Park, I was amazed by dark lines of underbrush with embellishments of ice and red berries, set starkly against pristine white background. There is a lot of lace to be found in the forest, but rarely in such plain sight.  

Kwomais Point with Pacific Ocean view

Forest underbrush lace…

…embellished with snow and ice…

… and red berries

I started to work on my next offering. Once again, my connection with Veronika Irvine and her  TesseLace worked miracles, and I was able to find the right grid and use the Circular Grid Templates for designing the mandala.

Work in progress – testing TesseLace grid #4x4_17

Work in progress – ready to start lacemaking

It worked so well that the piece was finished before the snow in the forest melted… It became my offering to the season that makes us revere cedar, to the beauty of snow and ice, and to the berries who know how to say ‘fertility’ like no other.

Offering: Red Berries

Centre detail- twining with red beads and rudraksha seeds

Detail of ice crystals in the weave

Offering nine red berries, with love

The Offering: Red Berries will be shown in juried exhibition ‘Just Gates’, organized by Arts Council of Surrey, in April 2019.

Copyright©2019. Lenka Suchanek. All rights reserved.