My inspiration for this quilt came from my encaustic painting of my two small children years ago.  Rising from the darkness of adversity and the death of their father, my husband, our wedding day, his presence fading from our lives, increasing in colour and intensity towards the phoenix rising, a symbol of resurrection and renewal of life…my colours seemed to take on a life of their own.  As author Jon Katz said:  “all our lives are bounded by life’s faces and shadows, by death, by illness, by loss, joy, creation, sorrow, pain and exhilaration…this is our universal experience.  A close quilt friend, upon looking at this piece, exclaimed, why it looks like Colourful Chaos.  And indeed it had become so, for the last five years of my late husband’s life was fraught with chaos.  He suffered and died because of a mental disorder, manic depression.

100% cottons, wool batting, in collaboration with Mary Light, machine quilter.  Original design.

By Sandy Small Proudfoot

     © 2014