Chamomile tea soothes. Stormy weather, cranky disposition, upset stomach in general…Chamomile puts it all right again. Bear-people are particularly helped by a cup of Chamomile when the weather inside or out has been brewing up a storm. This sunny little flower inspired me to express the kind of worldview that’s best soothed by a nip of Chamomile in this piece. Here, a group of bears are gathering on the edge of a field of chamomile under a glowering sky. The fabrics for sky and field are hand-dyed for this project. I matched them with commercial and previously dyed fabrics to create the drama and grounded earthy energies of this work.
- Size: 30 inches x 60 inches, horizontal (76 cm x 152 cm)
- Materials: Cotton fabric, Silk Organza fabric, cotton and polyester threads and cording
- Created: August 2021
- Series: Tea in the Wild series #1
- Current Location: New Zone Gallery, $998 contact gallery to purchase
My Thoughts on the Work
I wanted to explore Tea in the Wild, sharing with my audience the nature of the plant medicines as I’ve come to know them through story-telling. In this piece, I’ve given we humans a spot in the very foreground, with a journal and cup of tea to mark our place. We belong very much in the wild world, although sometimes I think we’d be wise to take time to observe before we jump in and start trying to fix the problems we see. Often times, Nature has a fix already cooking.
Chamomile offers just that kind of fix. I love the high drama of the sky in this piece. It speaks to the level of high drama that clues me in to the need for a nice cuppa Chamomile tea. The fields of Chamomile on the mid- to foreground hints at the soothing nature of Chamomile when dealing with the threat of such stormy weather.
