Commissions

In the last week I’ve completed two commissions. The first is for an acquaintance who is soon to leave Taiwan after working here for four years. I often use the image of a path as a symbol of journey through life and experience. Her experience here has had its ups and downs and so I’ve shown her letting go of the books that represent her career here. There are symbols of Taiwan – 101, the clouds, food, cycling etc. The tree of life is another image I often use as a metaphor for continual change, security (see the birds nesting), strength and beauty. In this picture ‘S’ is urging ‘M’ to fly with him to a new beginning. I wish them well on their journey.

The second silk cut also uses the metaphor of the path as part of life’s journey. The arch represents the portal through which M & T pass to move on to the next stage of their life journey. He carries a map as he loves travelling while she carries a notebook representing her love of blogging. Again there are images of the places closest to them – Taiwan, Japan and Hawaii. The lantern, hanging from the arch, could be the earth with clouds swirling around it. The constant movement of cloud and air around the globe is the ever changing energy of life. The pattern below the picture is old Chinese money representing wealth, health and happiness.

Adam's Lusitania picture

My son Adam has been recently very ‘into’ shipping disasters such as the Titanic and the Lusitania. Without copying he reproduced this near perfect rendition of the sinking of the Lusitania. Every parent thinks his / her child is a genius, but mine really is!!

His perspective is excellent and the amount of detail on the ship is just awesome. It’s odd though, that the survivors all have no faces. Click on the pictures for much clearer images.