I am part of Cloth in Common, a group of international artists who respond to bi-monthly prompts. The current prompt is “Spring.”
Here the crocuses have sprung, only to emerge into a cold and still brown yard.
And, again today, it is snowing. It’s hard for me to think “Spring!” However, I just returned from a trip to Eastern Europe (actually a little bit warmer!) where I was inspired by “rebuilding” and “renewal.” Do they count for “spring?”
Many of the drab so-called “communist condos” have been painted, and they still house a large population. (Some, it was explained, are even better built than today. But not all.)
Dresden was firebombed by the Allies in Feb 1945, killing as many as 135,000 people in the single most deadly bombing of the war, including Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It was reduced to rubble but has been painstakingly rebuilt.
We visited Zwinger Palace, and have the before and after photos to show the rebuild. It is now a museum housing priceless art.
I made small art quilts while I was traveling. I was especially intrigued by Berlin. First it was one city, then two cities, now one city again –and still stitching itself back together. These are pieces inspired by the art on the wall, torn down in 1989.
We visited just as the US President wants to build a wall on the US border with Mexico. For future generations to tear down!
How I am going to respond to “Spring” is still the Great Unknown in my studio. Rebirth? Rebuild? Traveling to Eastern Europe in the Spring? Stay tuned.
Besides Spring will surely emerge. Any day now.