Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Wrapped and Nailed


(Above: Wrapped and Nailed.....unless someone has a better name! Please help name is piece. It's about nine or ten inches long....a big nail!)

While waiting for an opportunity to buy yet another bolt of Wonder Under (Bond-a-Web), I turned my attention to a really large, old nail given to me by my neighbor Gita. I loved it from the moment I saw it and knew that I wanted to wrap it in fibers. I've wrapped all the old roof nails from Gita's house....thousands of them. Some were in a juried show in Texas at the same time as another group was on display in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. They've graced the cover of a local magazine when CYBER FYBER was a feature story. I adore old, rusted nails. I also had an old peanutbutter jar of rusted, square nails.....so I started wrapping....and nailing...and this is what resulted.

For now, I'm calling it Wrapped and Nailed. It isn't a very original name but I can't think of the term for an animal symbol...I've played around with words like bestiary, petroglyph, pictogram, hieroglyph, figure, sacrifice, totem....but I just can't seem to settle on anything. Any suggestions? And I really don't want to call it "porcupine" or "hedgehog" even though I really think those names might suit it! I'm looking for something sort of ambiguous....something that will allow a variety in interpretations. Nails are my favorite symbol: sacrifice, unity, precision....but if you get "nailed", it's generally not a "good thing"!

The other rusted nails are wrapped now....but I'm planning on stitching into the fibers and making these "special".

8 comments:

Ruth said...

I'm not sure about a name but it reminds me of a bed of nails or cat-o-nine-tails, some type of weapon or self flagellation device as used in the bible for mortification of the flesh. Not sure that's very helpful though.

Mrs Gibson said...

Wow these are just fabulous.

Wanda said...

I like the name you gave it! I really like the piece...it's fun and yet, it can also be very serious. I'm so glad I've seen your wrapped nails in real life! Pictures somehow can't do them justice. Maybe because you can't smell them or touch them.

Aussie Jo said...

I have been trying to think of a word that means a tough, spiky exterior but soft heart.
So I did my favourite thing- reading the dictionary, it's amazing what words mean!!
Here are a few I came across:
apotheosis
apostrophic
incrustation
tungsten
impregnable
aegis
Whatever you call it I love it!!

William Evertson said...

I was tempted and I'm glad I did (click on your link that is from Corrine's blog) Very nice work! The stitched word series is very moving.

Nina Marie said...

I took one look at this piece and thought Pierced. Its so interesting, I just wanted to look and look.

Dolores said...

Porcupine?

Quilt Architect said...

How about "Another point of view". Seems there are always other points of view that we have not thought of and that we don't think there is room for...and with the way you struggled to get them to stay together...well I thought of that.

It was influenced by the musical...The Point...by Nelson. Oppie, I think that was his name, goes to the pointless forest and meets the rock man that has so many points that he is a round. If you have not heard of The Point you should get it because you are in for a treat.
I think I will treat myself to it today.