Madeleine 1906–1967

Madeleine was my grandmother’s younger sister.

She always struggled to find her place in society. As was often the case back then, being the youngest in the family, it seemed natural that she would remain unmarried to care for her parents.

However, she was an independent woman and tried to make a living by becoming a beekeeper.

She loved nature and especially birds.  This solitary life suited her, but in a country where single women were looked down upon, she struggled to make a living, and her business quickly went under. Eventually she worked as a nurse assistant in a hospital.

She gave me my first book on birds.

For this quilt, I used old fabrics (sheets) that I dyed. The bees were created using a thermofax and then painted over.

I applied a fragment of a map of Tunisia showing the location where she lived. The map is an old edition; I treated it with acrylic wax to reinforce it.