..I've had a bit of a "thing" about African art for quite some time now...
...and one of my most treasured books is "Land of the Flying Masks - Art & Culture in Burkina Faso (Wheelock)".
(I actually SAW some of these masks in Carcassonne back in May - in a small shop that specialised in African art. I couldn't bring a huge mask home, but did buy a small "fecundity" figure that I'll show in another post.)
I chose a particular antelope mask to use as my design inspiration...
..to be used with my new toy!
Thanks again to Penny, for persuading me to have another go at "Punchneedle Embroidery".
I say "again", because I bought a tool many moons ago, and got absolutely nowhere with it! Now that I've got an "Ultra Punch" tool, I'm a LOT happier...and I think the calico that I've used is much better than the awful synthetic stuff recommended by the makers of the previous one. This one works really well with my fine 2/28s cotton too :-)
Anyway...
..this was my first foray...
Simple heart shape...one thread.
Foray number two was a little more complex...
.a centre-piece for a small log-cabin-type quilt methinks...
Then I got to thinking about that mask...
..so I dyed up some threads for the job at hand...
...and made a start...
See the bit on the nose of the antelope mask?
It'll be finished before long, so I'll show it in the next post.
I'm seriously loving this technique!
(So much, in fact, that I'm importing Ultra Punch needle tools to sell at FOQ and Harrogate! I should have some packs designed by November too!)
