Thread of Everything - A Wonderful Fairy tale

Stunning piece of mixed media work art created by Joceyln Stephenson in her Lake District studio.

Double mounted and framed in black with Artglass 

Frame size: 36.5 x 30.5cm

Paper size: 20 x 15cm

“The name was inspired by one of my favourite books, The Theory of Everything: a biography about the life of the late Stephen Hawking; a story of a brilliant mind captured in a frail and failing body; a story of hope. Woven throughout is the human spirit’s enduring need to communicate in whatever way possible and a lesson for us all that we should never give up trying to live a full life, no matter what challenges we face.

The Thread of Everything represents the common thread that unites us: language in all its forms, whether spoken, written or drawn.  The way we use language to communicate inspires each unique piece, the essence of which is to choose your words wisely. 

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Longstitch is hand sewn across the ageing pages of a vintage storybook from the early 20th century, creating lines of thread to obscure the text, revealing a “found” word or aphorism. 

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Contemporary work is now being created alongside the vintage pages. Using heavy watercolour paper and words taken from the natural world, its landscape and language, into which a 'found' quote is placed, currently with a focus on the naturalist John Muir.  These are handsewn in longstitch in the same way as my vintage work and allow me to explore themes close to my heart and the natural landscape.”