Flying Dreams - Marion Barnett

Every once in a while the post man leaves a package on the counter that runs from my front door to the dining room door. One day, this appeared. When I opened the manila envelope I found a small parcel of folded up canvas.

I unfolded it and laid it out on the dye board, considering. The cats considered; they could tell that Advo and Merlin had been around this crumpled up piece. I keep shooing off the cats. I was trying to figure out how I could press it safely. I finally took the teflon pressing sheet and got it flattened enough to pin up high on the pinning wall. I could look at it out of the corner of my eye every time I passed.

Finally, I decided to make a template. Butcher's paper taped down to the dye board with the art work laid over it. Penciled in the shape and put the art back on the pinning wall. Took my marker and adjusted the pattern to account for the full lining. Had a template cut of eighth inch oak door skin, sanded, and varnished multiple times, set two keyhole hanging eyes.

Laid out the work and the lining and stitched the whole works to turn. Finished the opening by hand. Now comes the interesting part. Flying Dreams hung over the bed in the back bedroom until it was displaced with a much larger work. The alcove where Flying Dreams belonged was about two inches too narrow; so we hung the work on an angle as you see here.

It's an interesting installation. There is no way you can get the entire image with a camera. You first glimpse Flying Dreams in a huge well lit mirror and then face confusion finding the work itself hidden in this small alcove.

Even more interesting are the comments. From a colleague who used to go to the Whitney Biennial when he was in the east, "It's the best thing in your whole collection!" From another colleague, an academically trained artist, "Wow, it's wonderful! So folks go check out Marion Barnett.