Messages at Lam Tsuen by Donna Halpin

Many too many projects are started and unfinished in my closet. When I looked at this sampler, originally a cyberclass taught by David McCaskill, I wondered if I should finish it. The stitches were good reference tools, but how boring. Then I discovered an article regarding fabric beads and immediately I was reminded of two wishing trees in Asia. For many years the people attached messages wrapped as scrolls (bao die), to an orange and then tossed the message into the air. If the message was “caught” on a branch, the wish would be granted. If not, it meant the request was too greedy.

Only recently has that custom been modified. The banyan trees are ancient and deemed too fragile to hold the weight of the messages. But, the messages remain….and now they are tossed up in the air hoping to reach the “granter of wishes.”

These messages have been crafted from Japanese papers and the linings of vintage recycled Japanese kimonos. They have been placed on a ground of a variety of threads and stitches, all intended as inspirations for backgrounds.