arcadia

earth mineral plant acrylic on organic cotton & linen collaged on wood panel

14 x 11 (set in 15 x 12 wood floating frame)

Within Another Life by Barry Spacks

Those whose days were grudging or confused


may come back trapped within another life

as a boulder, or a pane of glass,


or a door that suffers every time it's slammed.

If I return a boulder, love, some summer day


come sit by me and contemplate these horses and these hills.

And if a windowpane, gaze through to see


the meadow on our walks where the brown geese strut.

And if I am a door, come home through me, 


be sure I'll keep you safe.

And if a knotted, twisted rope,


from long self-clenching and complexity,

oh love, unbind, unbraid me then


until I flow again like windswept hair.

Inspiration arrives in many forms — an inner or outer landscape, a poem that shifts my perspective, words and symbols deeply felt. Wherever the muse appears, working with natural dyes, earth minerals and textiles is a joy-making process.

Sewing is my first love, but collage opened a floodgate. It offers a freedom to experiment with shape and scale that sewing doesn’t readily allow. I love both: the clean closed seam and the raw cut edge — each a metaphor for life. Moving between them keeps my creative center alive.

The collages begin with natural dyed textiles. The hand dyed fabrics are then painted with pigments and oxides I hand-blend into plant-based acrylic, creating bespoke colors. I build up multiple layers to create desired opacity and depth of color on flax linen, organic cotton and/or hemp, then hand-cut the dried forms and collage them onto wooden panels using natural adhesives. A coat of plant-based varnish finishes the work — framed and ready to hang.

note: please hang away from direct exposure to harsh light (natural/artificial) as well as direct heat source and areas of high moisture