Week 8

Mimi (L)  Round and Round - Thread, pastel on vellum.  Bibi (R)  Sequoia - Photograph, collage

 

Mimi  Round and Round,detail

Mimi:    Round and Round

As I began working I had this going through my head:round and round and round we go - like a children’s nursery rhyme. Circles, cycles repeating.  Magical and complex.

 

Bibi:    Sequoia

I received a sequoia tree as a Christmas gift earlier that week. I was concerned about what I would do with it: where it would be planted and if it would survive. It was a big responsibility to have this tree, since they can live a long life and grow to be extraordinarily big. I was deciding if I should donate it to a park. I had the tree on my mind.

Two days before I made this piece, I went to get my Town Dump Pass which turned out to be number “99.” I first wished that it was #100, to be even, but then decided that I liked #99.

Bibi  Sequoia, detail

Mimi’s birthday was the 22^nd of December, the day before this project. I liked the configuration of the numbers of that date: 12/22/2011. It made me think of the #99 and the song “99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall” came into my head. I wondered, “Why beer?” That didn’t make sense to me as an appropriate children’s song, but it stuck in my head and I started to hum it.

I had decided to use a print of which I had many reject prints. I liked the green in the teacup print and it related to the sequoia tree. As I was cutting out Christmas tree shapes from the prints, I was tallying them likes this: XXXX. I was singing “99 Cups of Tea Passed Around.” I just kept repeating that line over and over as I worked.

I talked to Mimi later that day. She said that she kept hearing a children’s theme in her head and the words “around and around” seemed to swirl in her brain. She ended up creating a circular piece with stitching and the words “around and around and around” are repeated throughout the circular pattern. 

                               
         Sequoia        B. H. M

0+9=9     0+9=9

9+9=18      1+8=9

9+9+9=27     2+7=9

9+9+9+9=36    3+6=9

9+9+9+9+9=45    4+5=9

9+9+9+9+9+9=54    5+4=9

9+9+9+9+9+9+9=63   6+3=9

9+9+9+9+9+9+9+9=72   7+2=9

9+9+9+9+9+9+9+9+9=81   8+1=9

9+9+9+9+9+9+9+9+9+9=90  9+0=9

                                                                    99 sequoia trees

                                                                    a cup of tea

                                                                    pass it around                                      

                                                                   grow grow grow

                                 

 

9+9+9+9+9+9+9+9+9+9+9+9 =108                        1+0+8=9

9+9+9+9+9+9+9+9+9+9+9+9+9=117                       1+1+7=9

9+9+9+9+9+9+9+9+9+9+9+9+9+9=126                    1+2+6=9

9+9+9+9+9+9+9+9+9+9+9+9+9+9+9=135                 1+3+5=9

9+9+9+9+9+9+9+9+9+9+9+9+9+9+9+9=144              1+4+4=9

9+9+9+9+9+9+9+9+9+9+9+9+9+9+9+9+9=153           1+5+3=9

9+9+9+9+9+9+9+9+9+9+9+9+9+9+9+9+9+9=162        1+6+2=9

9+9+9+9+9+9+9+9+9+9+9+9+9+9+9+9+9+9+9=171     1+7+1=9

9+9+9+9+9+9+9+9+9+9+9+9+9+9+9+9+9+9+9+9=180  1+8+0=9