CAP Week Eleven 11/12-18/12

keen to develop image transfer further with different fabrics (connecting with the Donner party) I obtained samples of American style 1840's fabrics by paying a visit to 'Country Threads' in Bath aswell as purchasing lace and other materials from the market drawing on my research: 'Rich stores of laces, muslins, silks, satins, velvets' which led to some intriguing results. I also paid much more attention to connecting particular people to certain fabrics-metaphoric and symbolic.

7 Pins

11y

5) George Donner -Farmer from Springfield, Illinois - Travelling with his large family -Captain of the Donner party -Died in March 1847 (During Journey-from gangrenous hand wound & weakness -Wife also died -Lace: Evokes preciousness & symbolic of the dream he aspired for. -disintegrating dreams, desires & hopes -half body- reminding us he actually died.

an old doily with some crochet work on it's edges and the image of a woman

7) Patrick Breen -Crossed the plains with family - kept a diary- written account of entrapment 'Almighty god deliver us from our present situation' -Him and his family all survived winter - Transferring onto crochet lace- particularly effective in evoking idea of preciousness and presence/absence -could consider knitting or crocheting own fabrics to transfer onto

a drawing of two men riding horses with one man holding the reins and another man on horseback

Winter In The Mountains

4) James & Margaret Reed -Survived the Winter in the mountains -Known for their wealth, reflected in their wagons:"We had two wagons loaded with provisions. ... Certainly no family ever started across the plains with more provisions or a better outfit for the journey; ... We had saddle horses and cows, and last but not least my pony." - I was tying fabric design with family

an old photo of a woman with long hair and wearing a white shirt is shown

6)Leanne Donner Images can be transferred more than once so my method is to transfer each image on variety of fabrics with different layers of material so I get an array of samples to compare. 'There were rich stores of laces, muslins, silks, satins, velvets' -Transferring onto vintage lingerie fabric -Really like the subtle flower design coming through so that the photograph and design become intergrated - Definite Antique feel

an image of a woman with red flowers on it

Lace Layers

Pretty Fabric

Abstract Artwork

3)Leanne Donner -Daughter of George Donner -Twelve years old at time -Rescued by first relief -Pretty fabric- Innocence could never have predicted what would happen -reflects the life she thought she was going to- hope, freedom -lace layer: concealing/revealing, suggests something being lost. not to be recovered -she lost members of her family and the 'dream'

an altered photograph of a building with blue and white designs on it's fabric

2) The Reed family home & family 1850's (After surviving winter) -More positive, the fabric and image combination reflecting the fact they did survive and achieve their dream & vision of life in California in the end -But the blurry/ghostly effect taint this 'perfect vison' - The consequences -The friends they lost - The memory

a bird flying through the air with leaves and berries on it's back side

1)William Murphy -Age 11 at time of the Donner party -Rescued by first relief -Mum died at cabin at the lake -Would have been old enough to remember this, haunted for years -1840's style American fabric (bird typical feature) -Suggests Freedom, hope, new life William wrote later: 'In 1845 we heard wonderful stories of a wonderful country in the far west...That we emigrate to the far off fairy land'