History shares the stories of the many hundreds of workers in the Mills spinning and weaving, producing finished yarns and woven cloth that dotted North America from the coastal east to the far southwest. Our ancestors worked in those fields planting, harvesting, and preparing cotton and flax for the Mills. This story resounds around the world.
Waiting with my composition map for ‘ABANDONED, in the Mills’, the days soon became very tight as the digitally printed cloth photos I researched and ordered to have printed for this project arrived so close to our posting deadline. International and cross-border shipping is difficult in these pandemic days that are changing the way we all order, receive, and hope for our project starts.
I reflected on the final days when the old Mills had been abandoned due to loss of community. Workers that were committed to long days in the fields, and those trained and striving to feed and house their families were eventually deemed useless as the economies changed and the need for the old machines and their workers were cast aside as businesses closed. Wartime, pandemics in the early 1900s, and yes, failed business subsequently destroyed working Mills. We know similar situations developing today as we march through our current pandemic and loss of jobs/economy.
Please join me in sharing a love of our land, the fields and trees and their leaves shared here – and the long-lost Mills and workers that brought us the gifts of that land and the cloth and wood for our structures and homes.
Note: As a new member, I have learned to celebrate the careful planning and ideas evolving around our posts. More importantly, I regret my eagerness to work on the project during a long-anticipated Retreat with CONNECTIONS Art friends so close to the project deadline. Unexpected illness, combined with delayed shipping of the digital prints are unforeseen issues that have reminded me that they could mean the depth of disappointment.
Photo Credits: Christoper Payne, Made in USA, Textiles; Leland Kent, Abandoned Southeast
Abandoned, in the Mills
Bethany Garner
Dimensions: 40h” x 30w”
Material: Hand-dyed background, eco-printed inserts for structure, digitally printed photos
Technique: Machine pieced and quilted
A beautiful piece, Bethany, well researched and planned as is all of your art. The orange blue colour scheme draws the viewer to the images, wonderful momentos of another era. Terrific use of your hand dyed fabrics.
Thank you, Marta…I have so enjoyed working with this story and the link to my own family Cotton Gin past.
Lovely colour combination, and the photos show such interesting details!
Thanks Deb… there is so much more to this story of the Mills. Perhaps will evolve along with future prompts.
Wonderful quilt and explanation. It’s sad to see the decaying buildings, but in combination with the turquoise, you’ve made them beautiful again. However, I’m glad to see some parts of the process left behind–the slave labor that made cotton so inexpensive.