Lace fans inspired by the elements

 

This series of four bobbin lace fans inspired by the four elements has been in production for a while. It began with the blue, water fan, which I made for an exhibition in Valtopina, Italy in 2013. Having made the water fan I liked the concept of having a series of them representing the other elements of fire, earth and air. I decided to use the same format for all of them, with the same lace pattern, wire frame and silk paper making up the leaf of the fan, but in colours appropriate to the different elements. I decided on brown and beige colours for the earth; orange and red for fire; and the greys, blues, mauves and ivory you can see in the air fan below.

Although the elements are quite different, the finger like design of the bobbin lace worked well for them all, as it can represent water droplets, currents of air, flames of fire, and layers of earth. 

The silk paper surround also seems appropriate as it forms a firm barrier but also includes threads and layers representing aspects of the various elements. I finished the final piece of lace a while ago but have only just made the silk paper and combined it with the lace and wire frame. I’m pleased with the resulting set of fans and they make a nice group for exhibiting.

Lockdown lace

Today’s prompt for the mid year lace challenge is ‘lockdown lace’ which made me consider the lace I have made since lockdown for the Covid 19 virus began in March. I started off by finishing the pieces I was working on before the virus struck. This was quite a large body of work inspired by Amy Atkin and other early twentieth century women who were obliged to leave work on marriage. It is made up of four table mats with needlerun lace inserts tacked in place in a reference to Judy Chicago’s Dinner party. That project was underway before the virus struck but lockdown did give me the time to complete it during that glorious weather we had in spring. After that my thoughts turned to designing future projects. One is a group endeavour inspired by a research trip to Japan last year. My pieces will include a three dimensional bobbin sculpture and two needlerun lace panels. The other is another lace doily including wording for which I’ve been researching tape lace. However I think my real lockdown lace is the bobbin lace I’ve been making for the fan series I started years ago. I made the first fan inspired by the element water for an exhibition at Valtopina and had always intended to make fans based on the other three elements. Well, lockdown has given me the time to make the lace for fire and air and I now have the bobbins wound for earth. I would never have got round to making them if it hadn’t been for the lockdown!

Fans for the four elements

I made the first fan in this series for an exhibition at Valtopina Lace and Embroidery Museum several years ago. The theme was a fan based on one of the four elements: earth, air, fire and water. I chose water for my theme and incorporated a bobbin lace design of water droplets into silk paper to make a small pale blue fan – you can see how I did it in a blog I wrote in September 2014.

I was pleased with the water fan and decided that I’d like to make a series of three more fans for the other elements. I made the ‘fire’ lace a while ago in red and orange threads but then got diverted into other projects and put the other pieces to one side. Looking through some images of my lace the other day I came across one of the water fan and as I have nothing on my pillow at the moment I decided to make the lace for the air and earth versions. I’ve now chosen a palette of grey, silver and neutral threads for air, and brown, copper and green ones for earth and have finally started on the lace.