So sorry to have missed the final and most exciting class. As I viewed each person’s project, I made notes on everyone’s project presentations as I viewed them in the recording. What a wonderful variety of submissions!

Mo’s Lighted Tree
What a great idea—a lighted tree to display the braids, especially for using short lengths of braids. The variety of colors and braid structures are really a strong point, and with the lights, you can see the structure from all angles. This project really invites you in. It would be fun to see of a video of this piece while it rotates.

Beth’s Cable and Single spiraling braid
What an astute choice of using 1 braid structure only! The complexity of the braid, and its softness contrast so well with the simple and hard cable material. The color choice of both the braid and the cable together were stunning and dramatic. My type of color combo.

Phyllis’s Mobile
This is such a playful piece. I loved the movement and thought that the 18 gauge was the right choice. It’s delicate, springy, and doesn’t dominate the mobile. The braids dominate, as they should. 16 gauge would look and be much stiffer and would make give a totally different look for the mobile.
The repetition of yarn colors for all of the braids added a rhythmic element to the mobile’s movement. It’s fun!

Carolyn’s Berkshire Tree
Loved the combination of the natural sticks and the braids, along with the crocheted base. The polka dot yarn in the braid for tree blossoms is clever, as well.
I know that it is a work-in-progress and think that you laid the 3-prong branch on top of the box to show us what you might add in, but after you add your braids to the branch, you might want to attach it, so that it does jump out of the box frame like it currently is doing. It would make for a surprise element that would force your eye into the picture.

Shawnee’s Japanese Ghosts
The background story and symbolism on this piece is so interesting and a great reference to your stay in Japan. Every woman can relate!
Using the braids to make little kimono’s was very clever. Also, I think that your use of the braid ends, curling and twisting them around, was as important as the braids themselves in representing the ghosts in the composition. They made the little kimonos that much more ethereal and flowing.
The gold background is the perfect choice. The white kimono is definitely the focal piece, and I loved the little crane on it. It was the exclamation point.

Bob’s Aging in Place
It was really great to see that mandala that will go into the piece. It’s gorgeous and I fell in love with it when you showed it to the CKG. As for the aging in place, I immediately read the s-curved braid on the right as representing an aged person, and the way I occasionally feel: Bent! I, too, thought the red braid was a flame, one that represented wisdom from aging, and the braid at the bottom as the barbs of life. Using some of the pieces of you old (new) home for the physical structure adds more meaning to the piece. I’d like to see it when it’s done.

Elizabeth’s Emotion
Ohhhh…. This is so dramatic and really does evoke emotion. The way the container frames the single coiled braid is tremendous. Talk about creating powerful positive and negative space! The sampler braid’s simple color combination made it all the more stunning, and the way the sampler is coiled at the bottom makes for new, and interesting patterns, showing the patterns in the braid in a totally different way than the usual.

Lyn
Many thanks to you for taking us beyond just braiding. It was a real challenge, but you gave us with lots of ways to look for ideas, ways to come up with practical solutions for physically mounting and showing the braids, ways to deal with possible pitfalls, and ways to evaluate our pieces as we were assembling them. You also gave us permission just to create. Fun class, and definitely out of the box!