A gift of Hope from Marg Johnson – Crow Woman extraordinaire

This week I received the most inspiring & beautiful gift of Hope from Marg Johnson – Crow Woman Extraordinaire and amazingly gifted artist
here’s Marg’s description when I asked how she had made these treasures;
“Yes I made the book cover, from the same leather as
I used for the bag.  I love working with leather.  Over the years I have
made all sorts of things with it.  Your little book is not the smallest item
either.  I love making stuff in miniature, cos it’s a challenge to having
them look authentic. I also love ageing stuff too.  The crow woman is made
from paper clay, painted  with a graphite paint, then buffed with a cloth.
The paint brush is just an old one cut down.  The pencil is one of a few
my daughter had as a child. I scraped the paint from the surface.  The nib,
just one of many, I love to write with them. (takes me back to my youth)
The black and white feather is one from a rooster I had many years ago. (a
Plymouth Rock).”
I am totally blown away, here’s my latest “Thing with Feathers” with Marg’s “Hope” & the opened bundle of beautiful old lace, fine cloth, raw silk, threads & needles she sent for inspiration

I have never had a proper set of needles in my life & Marg has set the benchmark considerably higher with the finishing off of this next “Thing with Feathers”
will add some wishbones, beads and more stitching to the loose printmakers mull round the base and may try some feather stitch for decoration between the lines of words, the leaf may or may not be part of it but it made a good stand for the photo!
( progress pics of this piece are here, here & here widdershins)
& here’s two things with feathers that popped out yesterday for two of the best Virgo girlfriends Julie & Sep whose birthdays are next week
the feathers are emu, crested pigeon & lorikeet, the wishbones are from Ariel’s organic quails, the words are the first verse of “Hope” by Emily Dickinson
 The poem “Hope is the thing with feathers” is the backbone of all the work this year, the crow drawings have been underpinned with it as well as so many good friends needing just a bit of extra hope & these feathered things are giving me a way to help here, here, here & here. This morning I woke up feeling so blessed with having such good friends & these projects to work with and being able to share them here on my blog which is over a year old now and making a good record of the crow drawings as well as more confidence with writing about the process (thanks to Jude Hill for wanting a blog link rather than the website for her Spirit Cloth sewing circle forum) This is such a golden time in our lives !
Julie, Sep and Lou at the Nimbin Hotel last year (it’s where we first met in 1976!)

NB Oh! & you must have a look at Judy Martin’s latest hand work, her stitched & covered bundles of branches speak with a quietly powerful & patient voice for all women & are just so beautiful.