You may have already picked up on this but .... I really love coral!
It completely fascinates me and I find it to be tremendously beautiful. Whenever I scuba dive I find myself transfixed on the coral formations I see below the surface rather than the beautiful fish and other creatures that we seek out when diving. Don't get me wrong I get excited when I see a shark or ray just as much as the next diver but I get so much out of just looking at the coral itself. While most people surface from a dive and exclaim... 'Did you see that huge groper/shark/ray etc!' I am more like 'Did you see the massive brain coral bommie!!!'
I think perhaps my fascination with coral comes down to it's texture, pattern and structure. Coral is both fascinating complex and also incredibly simple at the same time.
This fascination with coral has clearly influenced my artwork and I have been making my own embroidered coral specimens for around 5 years now. I started off making small circular coral inspired designs and then moved onto full coral branches in a range of colours and varieties. Recently I decided to push my work it even further in scale and create a large coral fan in my favourite coral colour - RED. When I first drew up the design I though it would take me about a week of sewing to complete ... I was very wrong. It took almost a full month of solid work to complete this big fella. But man was it worth it! I am so proud of this piece and it looks amazing in life.
Giant coral fan
(detail) by Meredith Woolnough
Giant Coral Fan (detail) By Meredith Woolnough
This piece (along with all my new work) will be exhibited at the Melbourne art show in late August.
Check out the website for full details.