Tapestry Title: Santa Fe Chilli Peppers
Tapestry woven by Madeleine Darling-Tung from drawings of the same.
8 ˝” or 21.5 cm (wide) x 6” or 15.3 cm (high)
Warp: Bockens Bomullsmattvarp 12/6 cotton, Sweden
Weft: Rio Grande hand-dyed yarns from Weaving Southwest, Taos, NM
When the Europeans were exploring the Americas, they discovered some unfamiliar vegetables and fruits – beans, corn, squashes, tomatoes, potatoes and a variety of chilli peppers. And so, throughout the 15th and 16th Centuries, many of these foods were then imported into European countries. Allspice, Chilli peppers and Vanilla became increasingly important to these explorers and new settlers to “spice up their meals (lives)”.
Of the Nightshade Family, sweet or bell peppers are a mild variety of the mostly pungent species of Capsicum. It was native to tropical America and was cultivated long before the arrival of the Europeans. After the 16th Century, peppers were cultivated throughout Europe as well. All peppers will turn colour (from unripe green peppers) to shades of yellow, brown, purple or red.
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Recipe: Red Pepper, Corn and Bean Salad
Red Pepper, Corn and Bean Salad
Char – Broil a large red pepper. Cover well while the charred red pepper is cooling. Rub the charred skin off the red pepper and discard the stem and seeds, while chopping into large bite-size pieces.
To the prepared red peppers, add 30 ounces of well drained canned beans (your choice), 1 cup of drained canned or thawed corn, 4 ounces of diced mild or hot green chillies, and 2 chopped green onions. Mix well with a cumin dressing. Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour, before serving.
A Cumin Dressing can be made by mixing well, 2 tbsp of wine or cider vinegar, 2 tbsp lemon juice, 1 tsp grated lemon peel, 1 minced clove of garlic and ˝ tsp ground cumin.
A Red Sweet Bell Pepper has about 16 times the beta carotene and twice the Vitamin C of an orange!
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Artist: Madeleine Darling-Tung
Madeleine Darling-Tung
Mad Tapestries: Tapestry weaving is not a fast-paced activity. I savour each moment in the weaving process, manipulating the coloured yarns while continually making decisions specific to the methodology. It is reasonable to ask why one would weave tapestries, when it is really an economically unfeasible activity. Perhaps the answer lies in the thought, that in this sometimes impersonal and complex world, there is something inherently rewarding in creating a living craft form. (The imagery is created at the same time as the cloth.) In the orderly evolution of a tapestry, there unfolds an underlying expression of creativity. Thus without fail, feelings of achievement and satisfaction come with being in control of the placement of each thread resulting in the visual interaction of lines, shapes and texture in the woven composition. As with most forms of communication, tapestry can be a means by which one can comment on imaginary or real events. For me, the tapestry medium functions as one vehicle for self-expression. I appreciate the permanency conveyed in a finished piece, providing the illusion that time can be made to stop, so that one can re-live the moments in its creation, until it is time to move on. Through tapestry, I strive to celebrate images in my immediate environment and create woven stories, to be interpreted without restriction, from the viewer’s perspective.
...All such Madness, but nevertheless still enjoying each and every tapestry adventure.
This Mad Tapestry Studio & Retreat, 184 Spinnaker Drive, Mayne Island, BC, Canada
madeleinedt@shaw.ca
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