Fiddlehead

This textile artwork was inspired by the profusion of dense, lush ferns I found in the rain forest at Cape Perpetua, Oregon. The adult ferns grow above knee-height, cover the hillsides, and cluster under the trees. Beneath them, the delicate young light green fiddleheads sprout in profusion. The two panels in this piece combine to provide both distant and close views. The left panel, with differing colors, patterns, and appliquéd shapes, suggests the dense cacophony of contrasting ferns in various stages of growth and decay. The right panel represents a single fern frond, recently opened from a fiddlehead, viewed in close proximity.