Hare Today, Gone Tomorrow

Hare Today
Gone Tomorrow

I have been making a hare for quite a long time.  I learned the wirework armature technique at a workshop with Jo Smith in summer 2021.  

Preparing the hare armature

I didn't finish making all the armature body parts at the workshop but I did finish them quite soon after...

Hare Armature Body Parts 

Then they languished for quite a time until spring 2022 when I finished preparing them for the next phase...

The fire pit part

which involved fire in my old barbecue (which we'd used as a fire pit and still had some wood in) and lots of newspaper to keep the fire going.  The fire burnt off all the support for the wire leaving just the wire structure.  It took quite a long time but then I had all the parts...

I finally wired them together to make the completed hare armature...

Completed armature

Then came the task of partly covering my hare in fabric which I stitched on. It became much easier once I started using a curved needle...

Using a curved needle made stitching easier 

His paws have a bit of stitched detail and he is partly covered in a collage of stitched fabrics... 

He is only part stitched as I wanted some of the wire to be visible.  His stitched half is standing on some knitted grass with stitched dandelions and his wire half on a bare brick.  He could represent the present and the future if the destruction of the environment takes hold or he could just be showing how he is made - the interpretation is yours.

My Hare Today, Gone Tomorrow exhibit will be on display at the York Embroiderers & Stitchers(YES) exhibition  "A Celebration of Stitch" at the end of June 2022 - details here.   Do come along and see him for real!