Grandmother's Doilies

Artist: Arielle Brackett

Materials: bronze, flocking, scatter pin findings

Dimensions: 3" x 3" x 0.75"

Beneficiary: Planned Parenthood

Artist Statement: Growing up my mom had a drawer full of lace doilies that my great great grandmother made. They were stored in her favorite piece of furniture and only appeared on special occasions. My mother treated these lace as a prized souvenir. As I have gotten older I have come to value my family's heirlooms greatly. I created Grandmother’s Doilies brooch, as a way of honoring my great great grandmother’s fiber work. I referenced her doilies to make my pattern. To create the texture of the lace I used a technique called cuttlebone casting. Afterward, I pierced away parts of the metal casting to create my pattern. The strongest forms were molded and reproduced in lost wax castings. I then manipulated, formed and combined the castings together to create lace like forms. Lastly I added colorful blue flocking to mimic the fibrous variation of textures in the original lace. I made these family souvenirs to honor my mother and my great great grandmother.

50% of the sale of this piece will be donated to the beneficiary listed above.