Flights Of Thread

“Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns,
and yet your heavenly Father feeds them…” Matthew 6:26

The lady is an artist. I knew that ever since I wrote a piece on her hardanger a long time ago and took some of her work to CARIFESTA V in Trinidad and Tobago in 1992. However, if I or anyone else thought that hardanger would be her only claim to fame, her Flights of Thread exhibition at Wallblake House next week will prove us wrong.

I write, of course, of Mrs. Irénée Edwards of Sandy Ground and the exhibition thus titled, will be formally opened on Sunday 17th February at 3.00 p.m. Opening hours for the remainder of the exhibition are Monday 18th and Tuesday 19th from 10.00 a.m. to 5.00 p.m. and on Wednesday from 10.00 a.m. to 3.00 p.m. Since many of the pieces are garden scenes, to my mind they can be easily integrated in the Flower and Garden show scheduled for the following week-end. As far as I am aware, that is not the plan so if you are an avid birdwatcher or if you want to challenge me on the point of whether or not embroidery can be Fine Art, then you have to come and see what Irénée Edwards has created this time. What does bird watching have to do with Art you ask? Irénée has chosen birds as the theme for her exhibition of exquisite embroidery and her work gives a whole new meaning to embroidery, which is usually cast as handicraft. I once asked Courtney Devonish about the difference between art and craft and I cite him justify my claim regarding Irénée’s art. Courtney explained the difference this way, “Both lend themselves to creative expression but art is a higher form of creativity. When I’m burned out and exhausted I can make pottery but I cannot create art.” You have to see the work at Wallblake House next Sunday to Wednesday before I can rest my case.

Irénée Edwards lives in Sandy Ground where she raised her family, tended her garden and now helps to care for her grand children, all while putting long hours into the creation of the pieces that comprise Flights of Thread. The work is truly remarkable and it is not evident at first glance that the medium is thread on fabric. Preferred threads are the DMC French threads in which the dye is fast. These threads are available at Lakes and at the Hodge’s store upstairs of Hodge Medical Services in the Johnson Building. Another artist accomplice in this art, no – embroidery, yes art, deception is Dale Hendrickson of St. Kitts who is also an artist and who owns and manages Art Line Framers in Cole Bay, St. Maarten. Dale’s professional framing of Irénée’s work contributes to the initial wonder about the medium used by the artist to bring attention and joy at viewing our colourful, feathered friends. After the exhibition, I strongly recommend a stop at Irénée’s house if you get to Sandy Ground one day only to find a few birds or no birds on the pond. They’ve been transformed into art.

Art mirrors life most vividly in the scenes captured in Flights of Thread. Irénée has selected the most brilliant colours to depict a variety of birds resting, feeding or in flight. They include field and house sparrows, ducks, doves, the most challenging peacocks, parrots and others. There is a spectacular scissors-tailed flycatcher, the most time-consuming hummingbird and the majestic cock – the one with the hen and chicks that belong to your neighbour but live in your yard. One piece entailed enhancement of an already painted pond scene by the inclusion of embroidered resting ducks. No wonder the Road Pond just across the road from the Edwards’ home is listed among the artist’s sources of inspiration. The work of the Anguilla National Trust must also be credited as Irénée explained that her design for the warbler and the ducks were taken from the Trust’s most recent publication, A Guide to the Birds of Anguilla.

The exhibition is not just for Anguillians and all residents and Art students and teachers are particularly invited. Had I only seen work of that caliber on display in one place during my childhood, I would have paid far more attention to the cross stitch, the satin stitch, the stem and stain stitches that seemed not too important when they were being taught at primary school way back then. Tourists and day visitors should also be encouraged to attend as Anguilla still does not offer enough items that can be genuinely branded ‘made in Anguilla’. They may have seen examples of Irénée’s hardanger at Cheddie’s Carving Studio and a few other outlets and will see a few hardanger items with bird designs at the Flights of Thread exhibition also. Among them are delicate white on white, white on bone and red and blue on white designs also depicting birds in their natural habitats. An extremely beautiful hardanger butterfly will also be among the exhibits with no injustice whatsoever done to the theme. Those responsible for decorating offices, hotel rooms and public spaces should also turn up with check books and pens in hand so that some of these birds will stay in Anguilla and not all migrate.

Flights of Thread is a fine demonstration of how traditional sewing skills can be utilized to create non-traditional pieces packaged differently for improved impact and pricing. The excellent quality of the work is the product of time, creativity, skill and discipline, combined with an appreciation of how birds need to be valued for their ability to evoke artistic sensibilities. I am not yet sure how Anguilla will begin to recognize and publicly acknowledge its artists and I think it is time for someone to pick up the slack where Sunshine Theatre left off, to continue the selection of an artist for an annual Artist of the Year award. When you see the birds of Irénée Edwards, you will then understand how easy it is for me to recommend that they be included among Anguilla’s offering of Fine Art at CARIFESTA X in Guyana in August. Not all of us will be able to go to Guyana so make it a point of duty to treat your self next week and may be even start a class in embroidery if the artist has any time left for classes.

Let me take this opportunity to offer warmest congratulations to Mrs. Irénée Edwards for the joy she has brought to our spirits in the past and invite you to a feast for the soul at the Flights of Thread exhibition.