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172. Coma la bebida y sea alegre para manana nosotros non morimos

( Eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die)

This hanging is a tribute for my father- to his music & philosophy on life- two of the greatest gifts he left me with.  It was a challenge- I wanted to use my father’s old sheet music & music books, which were so dear to his heart.  I used handmade paper for the patchwork background & cut the skeleton from sheet music, which I backed with muslin.  The flowers are cut from music & exercise books, the leaves and vines are cut from an English waxed parchment land document, dated 1859, that I bought in London years ago. I embellished with some embroidered stars-everything else is sewn  with my mother’s trusty old circa 1930’s singer sewing machine. To mount the piece, I backed the hanging with burlap and used wood dowels wrapped with an antique Victorian paisley & gold metallic thread.  The “beaded chain” is made from wrapped paper, an old Christmas tree garland made by a friend’s relative as a child in the 1930’s-1940’s.