Flora as Fashion: Jonathan Mills

"Flora as Fashion: Jonathan Mills" 2019
Digital inkjet print and yarn
40 x 40 in.

In the final days of stitching the last pieces for the exhibition, this 40 x 40 in digital inkjet print was both a joy and a conundrum. There was no doubt I would fill the piece with the ombre colors echoed in the wisteria vine that Jonathan was wrapped in and intended to fill the shirt with a pattern of it's fragrant flower. But after I had filled in the first line of flowers which were attached to the vine, I sat with the piece for a day and came to the conclusion that the image was complete.

Simplicity is not as easy as it appears. Although I desired to fill the shirt in completely, it was obvious to me that just a simple line of flowers hanging from a single vine had created a powerful image that expressed exactly what I had intended to present.

Using the French Knot embroidery stitch in yarn was a bit of a challenge. I had to do quite a bit of testing before I could properly create the knotted stitch and ended up using merino wool with a rather large, heavy duty sack-needle used for stitching up packages of hay or grain.

I couldn't be more delighted with the final image in this series as it contains all that I have experienced and learned from creating this project. With the exhibition "Home as Hat - Flora as Fashion" coming to a close today, I am pleased that I was able to see this body of work come to its final conclusion.

If interested in purchasing an exhibition catalogue, please email me at julievox@sbcglobal.net

Julie Green
June 22, 2019