Beekeeper Cushions

These three cushions were created as an homage to my mother, a beekeeper.  I have long been enamoured with Japananese textile techniques, specifically Shibori, but wanted to appropriate this technique in a figurative manner  more relevant to my own background.   Dyed with natural indigo and stitched by hand to create a resist,  the front of each pillow depicts an aspect of beekeeping.  The final pillow also includes images of the Varroa mite, which has decimated honeybee populations throughout the world and brought about the tragic end of my mother's apiary.  The back of each pillowcase features samples of traditional shibori resist-dye techniques.  

Please click through the slideshow below to view images of these cushions: