Mrs Angry and Mrs Calm

I have had a couple of difficult days.  I had a dreadful day fighting photoshop to get my roller towels printed.  Talk about Mrs Angry!  I nearly jacked the course in, with sheer frustration.  I just do not have sufficient understanding to do things quickly and efficiently, right first time, and do not seem able to predict the intensity of colour when printed.  However after 2 days work, I have put my roller towels in the print queue.  I have failed to resolve any of the critique that I received, but given my skill level, it will just have to be good enough.

Additionally, the same day I was told our exhibition room has changed, and nothing can be attached to the wall.  No drilling in, no sellotape, no blutack.  Given I need a float shelf, and want to wall mount my knitted samples, roller towels and curtain, I was dismayed.  The relayed instructions were to "identify innovative solutions"!  I was seriously hacked off.

But after a swim, I worked out most pieces could be suspended from the ceiling with magnet fixings and fishing wire.  I have become Mrs Calm.

So now I am drafting more artist statements

My Mother's Work - Unfinished

This knitted collection reflects on how work typically carried out by women, often requires high levels of skill, but while incomplete, these skills are frequently unrecognised.  This piece aims to celebrate the unsung and unrecognised skills of people like my Mother.

My Mother's Work - Unseen

This collection of 64 jam covers refers to the number of pounds of jam made by my Mother each year for 42 years of marriage.  Each cover is embroidered with a section of a utensil that is handled make jam.  Every year the jam would be consumed, and the labour involved disappear.  This piece celebrates the unseen labour of one year's jam making.

My Mother's Work - Unending

The roller towels demonstrate how the unending nature of women's work slowly dawns on the individual.   The words on the roller towels are the verbs used in recipes to make a cake, a shepherds pie, and a lemon merangue - favourite dishes cooked by my Mother.  The shortest roller towel alludes to the simple pleasures of making a cake; the second towel shows food preparation is a long term process; and the longest one gives the realisation that my Mother's work with food was never ending.

My Mother's Work - Cyclical

Many domestic tasks are repetitive and are carried out regularly.  There are many circles in the kitchen - pots and pans; plates; cups; mixing bowls; colanders; drainage holes; and plug holes.  Won'The cyclical nature of  my Mother's work is alluded to by the circular shape of the tea towels.