Sunday, March 16, 2014

Kathy's Translate: "They Paved Paradise and Put Up a Parking Lot !"

Amazingly, our "Translate" challenge really helped me to focus on an issue that's more important to me than I ever realized... That issue being ecology and preservation !    I looked up "translate" in the dictionary, found several interesting definitions, and yet what spoke to me in such a timely manner was what was going on right in my own back yard.  Well, actually across the street from our front yard.  Here you see what represents the "before" scenery:


To my husband and me, this land is almost sacred - pastoral, bucolic, peaceful, tranquil; home to deer, birds, squirrels, and occasionally, an errant calf from our neighbor's herd.   We've never experienced land like this, and even as I write this,  serenity washes over me bringing a sense of tranquility.  

Much to our dismay, part of that land was sold;  Five duplexes (10 houses !)  were built in that space.   Here's a picture of what that section of land looks like now:

They literally "Paved Paradise and Put Up a Parking Lot !"     

So, what have we done about it ....  I'm now a member of the City Planning and Zoning Board here in Gatesville,  and I attend every City Council meeting !   Its amazing what happens in all those meetings !  

And perhaps the biggest and most important event is that my husband, Greg, and I have been able to purchase the remaining land as seen in that first picture !   No more duplexes and no more concrete parking lots !     The deer, cows, squirrels, birds and rabbits, et al roam freely while we tend to the land, preserve the gorgeous trees, and at the same time provide "breathing space" for all who travel near this area.    It's truly the last "Green" space on our street, and we're thrilled to have become stewards of this beautiful land.

So.... that's my story !    Here are the photos of my quilt and the verbiage from the song I used as my inspiration:



The song, of course, from the 1970s made famous by Joni Mitchell.  (If you're interested, let me know and I'll send you the rest of the lyrics  :-D)      To make the quilt, I printed my pictures onto Jacquard Ink Jet Silk (I've described this process in previous MM blogs).     I Googled the lyrics to "Pave Paradise..." and printed some of those lyrics onto hand-dyed cotton, using "Transfer Artist Paper (TAP) developed by Lesley Riley.   The border fabric surrounding the lyrics has verbiage on it that speak to me:  Don't Trash the Earth; Save Our Planet; Think Green; Eco-Friendly; and especially for this quilt... "Tree Hugger !"      Thanks for this great opportunity to "Translate" some of my core-values to cloth and fabrics through Art !