'John and George'... are complete

after 21 days of cutting and pinning (over 4 months) John and George, 2013 - after Captain John Hunter, 1789 is finished...

the hand of the King is complete and the whole 

bird is pinned to it's backing mount - ready for

final mounting and framing

a detail of the King's hand and offering -

cherries (constructed from Hungarian silk embroidery);
  tiny cross-stitched berries and Australian bottlebrush;
antique lace from France forms both the hand and
the lace cuff and the vintage green velvet has been
'quilted' using brass lace pins

the finished work

The gloved hand of the King (or is it Captain John Hunter?)

holding a strange bunch of fruit and flora.  I've used bottle green

velvet - from a dress given to me by a friend - fur from my late

mother-in-law's evening jacket, vintage lace from France and 

glass buttons, to recreate the hand offering the parrot a gift

in John Hunter's painting of 1789

the bird has been taken down from the wall and

lays waiting to be backed and mounted for framing and

the original image lies silently nearby - watching...

the bird is backed with black silk organza 

using Vlisofix - and iron-on adhesive

and now the bird is back on the wall - just waiting

the hand of the King (still to be backed)....

almost there....