Recollection . Betty Jane Lau: 2018

Wednesday, July 18, 2018

#44 'Eye of a Sea Turtle / 4th of July' 2018.7 55x55 African, Tutuvi, Western and Hawaiian fabrics. 900.

See Mar 10, 2019 'It Takes a Village' post for professional photos and closeups.

If a sea turtle in the cool depths of the ocean looks up and see fireworks high above her in the sky; does it catch her eye? Is she curious? What is that flash? Is it far away or is it near? Does she bother with the activities of men, outside her dark wet world of the sea? Unfortunately for her and other creatures that share our planet, what we humans do eventually impact their world too.

Wednesday, April 25, 2018

Wednesday, April 11, 2018

#40. 'Piko Baby Blanket One' 28 x 32 American prints, Aloha fabric printed in Japan. Given to Tina's Falin's baby Ginn on her 1st birthday. 9.20.2018

'Piko' is a Hawaiian word that means navel, belly button, center.

#39. 'Triplets, Rain / Thorn Thicket' 62 x 68. Feb/Mar 2018. NFS.

See Mar 10 2019 'It Takes a Village' post for professional photos and closeups.

I didn't know my friend Gina's daughter was about to have triplets when she came to my opening at Firecat Projects Gallery in Jan. or did I? At any rate, here they are.

As a child I saw a movie that was set in turn of the century Africa; at one point of the story it showed the travelers unable to reach a safe enclosure by sundown start to desperately cut down thorny brush. They built a circle of thorns around their camp to protect themselves from wild animals that hunt at night; a ‘kraal’ (S. African). ‘Kraal’ can mean; a corral for livestock, a grouping of houses and family relations, or a wall of encircling thorns. In my weaving I imagine three sisters surrounded by a kraal; is it meant to protect them from harm, is it to prevent them from leaving, or does it just mean they are sisters and forever entangled?

On the reverse side of the weaving, the same triplets are covered in rain. Is it a nourishing blessing, or does it threaten to blot out their forms, or impede their goals?

Thursday, March 8, 2018

St Louis.

Woven quilts get delivered in Ikea woven bags.

A surprise at Firecats Gallery while Hannah Deaton documented my work.

Helen O'Rourke was my SAIC Fiber Dept. advisor in 1977, she came with silky fabrics for me. I haven't seen her since 1980! So delighted and surprised I didn't finish taking the last photo of 'Mandala (Silky)'. We forgot to flip it for one more picture. See 4th Presbyterian show Jan. 1917.