The final flag in the series is yellow and represents the earth. Mother Earth provides many blessings to her residents. I thought about the structure of the earth. Gravity, the force that holds us here, springs from deep within the core of the planet. I thought about the other layers – the magma and the crust. Earth’s crust contains stone and other mineral substances, and it the erosion of these that forms soil. Soil is quite a wonderful material in itself. But the “secret sauce” of soil, that which allows plants to grow and come to fruition, is its complex combination of minerals, organic matter and biological agents such as fungi. The soil I know best is that which formed over a vast limestone bed of a long-dead sea. This is the inspiration for my prayer flag of Earth. At top is the precious soil – usually black in calcium-based soils. Then comes a layer of white limestone, and then the underlying rock. The rock in my image is colored red due to iron oxide. Note the prairie plants reaching deep into the limestone layer. This flag was made on hand-dyed muslin, appliqued, embroidered and stenciled. I chose to fray the edges of the fabric to illustrate the effect of erosion.
Daily Fiber 