Alice Jenks
"Swimming with the Shishas"
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| (Photos by Patrick Fraser) |
Reflections! “Water, cool clear water”
Fifteen exotic fish swim among the Shisha mirrors, (often used in Indian ladies’ saris) with glitter and beads imitating bubbles. They cover the color spectrum of red, orange, yellow, green, blue and violet.
The fish were copied free-hand from library books. Using polyester sheer fabric and tulle for the bodies they are decorate with fused fabric, paint, dye, colored pencils and markers. The eyes were made of beads except for the blue and yellow Emperor Angelfish. His eye is a black wire spiral.
Stiffened sheer fabric formed the background for the panels. A layer of tulle covering the fish, shisha mirrors and beads was stitched in place with free-motion machine embroidery.
Electrical wire frames undulate around the free-form segments. Strands of water colored beads lace them together. Another length of the wire threaded through the top tube supports the frames.
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