something old, something new
My dad recently passed away, 32 years after my mom died. While cleaning out his basement, I found her wedding dress. But it was a mess - stained and moldy.
I texted my 2 sisters and asked for permission to toss it away, which they granted, but it didn’t seem right. It was once so beautiful and still had gorgeous details. Like the beaded bodice. So I took a pair of scissors to it and cut out pieces that were salvageable.
Back at the studio, I separated the silk backing from the netting the beadwork was done on and embedded them in 3 tiny little encaustic paintings - one for each of us. The wax worked perfectly to seal it to the wood panels and with a few layers the netting was erased with only the beaded flowers showing. I couldn’t wait to surprise my sisters….
