Aikatrine
"The
mirror reflects more than my hands can feel.
Lines, edges, shadings, a weariness under the eyes, an awkward stance.
Yet, not reflected is a certain vibrancy --
a compassion and wisdom and wonder so many people rely on.
Only you, my beaded art doll,
capture the fullness of me as I age in place .
You embody changes I want to make, so I aptly name you…"
Aikatrine, meaning each of the two.
Life-giver,
life-taker.
Powerful, fragile
serene, chaotic
forgiving, harsh
compassionate, rageful
We praise
what you provide
earth air water fire
We fear
how easily you can ruin us.
We delight
in your play
a wildflower thriving between rocks
the shimmer of new fallen snow
giggling breeze-blown corn
dew drops on cobwebs
We panic
when thorny entangled vines
or spider threads,
menacing and inhospitable,
make it hard to pass.
We are renewed
by your waters
the roll of your ocean
your pure, absolvent snow
the gentle and forceful steadiness of your rains,
nourishing the earth and soul
washing away what dulls your beauty
Yet, we are wary of
the vastness and heaviness of your ocean
We fear the fury of your storms,
We tremble when the ocean, in her ferocity,
rises to destroy what we've built
We are
enchanted by your earth.
your moist loam, your sandy soils
your cliffs and mysterious caves
your red rocks and majestic mountains
We jubilate in
your mud between our toes
your sand under our feet
a child touching your plush lawn for the first time
the single grain in a handful of sand
We are nourished by your abundance
your warm, just-picked tomato
your berries, plump off the bush
your fruit, juicy and ripe
Yet, we falter
when your earth shudders, cracks
and breaks open, making our shelters
no match for your might
We hold
sacred your breathe
the air, vital yet unseen
the perfect essence,
the ebb and flow of existence
We are calmed by your wind,
the breeze cooling sweat off our skin,
the brisk air rustling leaves,
the lazy perfumed summer wind
that makes trees brush the sky
the sweet whiff of spring air
mixed with slivers of rain
and the scent of fresh mud
Yet, we cower from your howling gusts,
from the frenzy of your heavy winds,
from your madness as you sweep across the
ocean and earth, collecting and spewing,
destroying and wasting
and making us powerless.
We are purified by your fire.
the soothing smell of burning wood,
its dreamy crackle
the cleansing tongue of
sparks to flames to embers
Yet we tremble at your terrible blaze,
uncontrolled, engulfing
destructive, catastrophic
We are
awed by you.
your simplicity
magnificent trees that thrive on
just sun earth and
rain
your force
your summer thunder
your winds that tear branches free
the deep mysteries of your inner earth
your capacity of transformation
the slow change of your water lapping
rock
your devasting storms
clearing debris
for new potential
the purging fires that prepare for
new growth,
new hope, new life
your rhythms and signals
sunset, this day is over, and it was
good
your mysteries
the balance of all living things
the alchemy of elements
the wisdom, chemistry and philosophy
the spirit of life
This
is how we know you.
I wonder, how would you define yourself?
But, Aikatrine has no time for self-reflection.
She is busy with self-regeneration.
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Side Image
Back Image
Detailed Image
(rotation)
List of Materials
and Techniques Employed
Dimensions:
Approximately 13" high, 7" wide and 4.5" deep.
With her feathered headdress, she is approximately 17" tall.
From headdress to stand, she is 24" tall.
Construction
Techniques:
Fiber-filled cotton fabric form.
Her feathers are glued to her crown.
Her stand, made with the help of a friend, was fashioned from a tree branch
which was drilled to hold a knitting needle. The knitting needle is glued
into the wood and runs up through the doll.
The stand's embellishment includes feathers and wire-strung beads which
are wrapped/glued around the stand and needle.
Materials
List:
Doll
Form:
cotton fabric, fiber fill
Stand:
wood, feathers, various glass and bone beads, wire
Bead
Embroidery:
FireLine, 8, 10 and 11 seed beads; drops; glass and metal flowers, glass
and Lucite leaves, bugle beads, poppy jasper and goldstone beads, a variety
of Czech glass beads.
Techniques:
Backstitch, Picot and Stacked stitches were used throughout. Larger beads,
such as the brown Lucite leaves on her back and the poppy jasper triangles
beads around her face were affixed using FireLine after which they were
glued into place.
When
I make a beaded art doll, I've learned to listen to the doll. She will
tell me what she wants to become. This has certainly been the case with
Aikatrine. She first came to me about 3 years ago through a seamstress
friend who had sewn and stuffed a fabric form, but decided it should come
to me "to do something with." I was only about a year into creating
beaded dolls, was excited to try a doll of her size, and was inspired
by my friend's choice of fabric.
Aikatrine
wanted me to help her come to life, so I slowly started to collect beads
and affix them, pretty much following the fabric on the front of the doll.
She became my winter project. She dictated every bead, and wanted plenty
of variety. She asked for richness and texture and complexity. She asked
for the colors of the earth and sky and water. She asked for leaves and
flowers and shapes.
Her
face was added well into the beading process. It is molded from polymer
clay. Her eyes are fashioned from drop beads nestled in white polymer
clay.
Though
I didn't quite feel she was done, I put her away after finishing the front
of the doll. The fabric on the back was a solid dotted color and I wasn't
sure where to go with it; I was tired of beading just one doll for months;
and she seemed pleased enough with what I had done. She spent most of
her time from then on in a closet (I have cats so I didn't want her exposed
and collecting cat hair), occasionally coming out for show. But she still
didn't feel finished to me -- she needed some sort of crown, I knew, but
I was content with leaving her back unbeaded.
Apparently,
Aikatrine was not content. I'd considered for months whether to enter
the Earthen Mother contest. I had several ideas but none of them came
to fruition and had just about decided I wouldn't enter the contest when
Aikatrine scolded me from the closet.
"You
know you have the start of an Earthen Mother right here," she said.
"You've left me in this closet far too long, and it's time I had
my due."
So,
out of the closet she came. As I beaded the back of her, I became increasingly
aware of what she wanted to express. I also realized that I wasn't capable
of telling her full story three years ago. I'd give her a 'front', a 'face',
an 'image'. But, I had not been able to show her mysteries ... her enormous
restorative powers, even in her wrath ... her amazing interweavings ...
her vulnerabilities ... her pride ... her complex simplicities ... her
grandeur and her grace.
To
me, Aikatrine expresses the extremes of nature, and all that is in-between.
She is the life-giving and life-taking spiral that is reflected in nature
and in each of our lives.
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