Drift by Steph Jansen

'Drift'

Steph Jansen

Drift

Wet felt

60 x 135 x 2.5 cm (23.62 x 53.15 x 0.98 in)

Signature: Signed on reverse

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Wet felted merino, mohair, cashmere, curly locks, Wensleydale locks, wool nepps, silk tops, silk carrier rods, sari ribbon, habotai, velvet and chiffon silk, silk-wrapped and banana yarn, spun and bourette silk thread, and waste yarn on a backing of silk chiffon and cotton scrim

Late autumn snowfall, followed by clear, bright days gave a new glow to my usual walks, and this lane above Cromford Canal stopped me in my tracks. I love the extreme depth of field with the striking contrasts of light and shade - so much to work with! I decided early on that I would use a layer of silk chiffon to knock the background into the distance, and this gave me an opportunity to take a risk and hand-dye and then sketch some suggestions of branches onto the fabric with a permanent marker before adding it to my work. So ‘Drift’ was more pre-planned than previous work, and was built from the background forwards. The balance of detail in the trees work well against the looser, more abstracted play of the shadows and golden pools of sunlight.