| pick
up fiddlesticks
Please
click on a picture for a larger view and details about
each piece. |
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When
I was in grade school all my friends got to choose instruments
to learn in the orchestra. I wanted to play the drums
but we couldn't afford to rent them. Instead, my mother
dug up my grandpa's old violin and I was mortified-
especially since the wooden case that went with it looked
like a coffin! Mom salvaged my pride somewhat by lining
the case with a piece of an old mink stole so I felt
special (maybe that was the start of my fascination
with the power of textiles?) I screetched along on that
violin for two years until my parents gave up and let
me quit. Now of course, one of my few regrets in life
is that I never learned to play, and that old violin
is one of my prized possessions.
I don't know of any other instrument that sounds as
bad when you are first learning it except maybe the
bagpipes. When I was given this child's violin I immediately
thought of my mother's attempt to soothe the pain and
decided to muffle it with a slipcover. Cloth is comfortable,
approachable and universally understood. The pick-up
sticks embellishment represents the drumsticks I pined
for. The color is the music I wish I could make. "Mom,
if you'd found this fiddle in the attic, I bet I'd still
be playing today!" |
Briony |
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