On May 9, 2005, at 9:14, Aurelia Loveman wrote:
Well, now I've seen it, I think the whole thing rather resembles the wellknown situation with Dr. Johnson's talking dog; i.e., the wonder isn't that the fence is so beautiful (which I don't think it is), but merely the fact that it exists at all. To my mind the object (fence) and the technique (lace) coexist uneasily and demonstrate their unsuitability to each other. (I know, I know, there will be plenty of Arachnes who disagree with me)
Don't know about "plenty", but here's *one* <g> Though, being a Libra, I only disagree with you half of the way :)
As *lace*, the fence is no great shakes - no dispute here. The execution is remarkably good (I've done cloth and half stitch in wire - much thinner and more pliable than this - and it's a *pain*), but the design itself is a bit wimpy. Had it been done in "proper" scale and in threads, lace judges would have rejected it with a "study some more" comment :)
I saw (thanks!, Sue Carter) a photo of close detail of the fence and the ground is CT instead of CTTT... In wire, it makes no diff (the same "thread" travels, whether there is one twist or three); in thread, it would have been a disaster...
But I dispute your statement that "the object (fence) and the technique (lace) coexist uneasily and demonstrate their unsuitability to each other"...
You're a designer and an innovator yourself... You'd agree that *any* fiber is "fair game" for lace making, no?
I myself tend to lean towards "tradition" but I have (once only <g>) made lace of my step-daughter-in-law's 30+inch long hair. A simple roseground and spiders (and no pins! <g>), but the "hair curtain" was lovely, and much admired at the party. I also remember David's (Downunder/Collyer) report of making lace with the strands of some parasitic growth on the trees around the hospital he used to work at. I bet *those* were "interesting" too, to say the least. Compared to those experiments, wire - even thick wire - is almost "old stuff", no?
So, if the *fiber* isn't at the root of your objection, *what is*?
I thought the design was pedestrian but, even so, I'd be happy to replace some sections (say, every second one) of *my* chain-link fence with "that lace fence" sections any time, as long as I didn't have to make them :) I don't think the marriage of the two is at all unhappy; wire flowers would work *perfectly* in all the shady spots, where real flowers refuse to grow...
Now, the question is: how do we convince WalMart to start producing and selling those lace-ornamented chain-link fence sections at a dollar a foot?
-- Tamara P Duvall http://t-n-lace.net/ Lexington, Virginia, USA (Formerly of Warsaw, Poland)
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