A Family Tree

 

Tree

M. Folan

 

tree trunk detail

M. Folan

 

Map of the Manor of Rothamsted

M. Folan

My starting point and inspiration was the letter that Sir John Wittewronge wrote for his children.  It tells them about his grandfather and how, one hundred years earlier, the family fled the Inquisition in their Low Countries homeland because of their Calvinist faith and how they went on to build a new life in a new country.   

It spoke to me across the centuries; beautiful simple words carrying the protestant faith and bearing witness to religious persecution, the reminiscences of an elderly man passing on and sharing his knowledge of their family history.   In so doing he started to set out their family tree.  

Hence my tree.  It is worked in needle-lace and will be mounted on Angelina fibre and sheers.  Angelina fibre because of the idea of ‘threads of time’ and sheers because they make me think of the layers of time and uncovering history from behind a veil.  

I plan to incorporate the words of the letter and illustrate some of the scenes it describes into the final piece along with the map of their manor at Rothamsted.  At least that’s the plan this time.