Date: March 2013
So, after a week's stitching adventures with the elephants I've managed to make good progress on the mother elephant's trunk and front leg. I've also put some shading in under the baby's trunk as well.
In Jenny McWhinney's notes you are given a picture of her finished embroidery (which looks amazing) and some drawings of the elephants, with stitching instructions. I've mentioned before that I like to work closely with Jenny's images as I think this will give me the most pleasing result. I feel that I still have so much to learn about threadpainting that I'm really keen to just follow the master's instructions.
I love the way the little elephant peeps out from under his mother. Some time ago, I decided the baby elephant was a boy. It just kind of suited me. My first born is a son. So, if this is the elephant mother's first born then it is a son.
We're big fans of the David Attenborough series of nature documentaries and, probably some time in the early 1990s, I remember seeing footage of a mother elephant waiting with her new born baby, who struggled to stand. There were quite a few anxious moments of footage and it seemed uncertain if he'd get it together. The herd wants to move on and eventually they do start moving out, but she stays with him and encourages him. He manages to stand but, in my memory, it is a long time before he is successful. In the documentary you hear the elephant experts theorizing that he was a large baby and the way his legs were folded in the womb resulted in them not being able to stretch out and support his weight. It is a great relief when finally he stands, supports his weight, and can slowly walk with Mum. I tried to find the footage through an internet search and this was the closest I could find > a gif on Reddit. Without the whole context of the film, I can't quite tell if this is the same story. And be warned, it is Reddit, so there can be some... ah...strong language in the comments. Mother elephant lays down to encourage her new born who can't stand yet.
We subscribe to National Geographic and I still have the magazine delivered in its printed form, but will sometimes also download and read the articles on the iPad as well. In the September 2015 magazine, there was an interesting and challenging story about the ivory trade in Africa. It is challenging to read how the trade takes its toll on humans as well as elephants. Much of the poaching is taking place in Uganda and Kenya, and the ivory is then trucked through Sudan, to reach sea ports, on its way to overseas markets. As the poaching is intricately caught up with the warlordism impacting on these countries, the article provides many details of Uganda's key warlord, Kony, and his crimes against humanity. Reading it isn't for the faint of heart but that is nothing compared to the courage that it takes to defend Elephants against poachers, or even the courage of being an investigative journalist, or more importantly, the courage to put your life back together after the violence that is dealt out by Kony's gangs.
My kids have this expression they use with me....'wow, that escalated quickly'. Not quite sure how we got from embroidery to disturbing tales of violence and death. Never a dull moment here at A Weft Yarn. To end on an uplifting note, as in there is still good in the world, you can always check out this fabulous site.
Previous posts
Return of the Elephant (February 2013)
Zebras Finished (February 2013)
Progress on Threadpainting Zebras (July 2012)
Zebras have got legs: African blanket (June 21, 2012)
African blanket: Threadpainting Zebras (April 12, 2012)
Thread painting elephants - Samburu blanket - animal number 2 (September 15, 2011)
There's an elephant on my sofa (August 30, 2011)
Samburu blanket thread painting: Giraffes (June 18, 2011)
Giraffes, Africa, Blankets - embroidery - thread painting (March 23, 2011)
