In the world today we don’t tend to stand still for long, though with the lockdowns of the past two years many of us found the stillness so good! We miss so much in the natural world by rushing around and not taking the time to stand still and observe. Whether this is in the daylight or at night the natural world is there right in front of us. We don’t always need binoculars, telescopes, observatories and other equipment to see, often we need time and to be in right place.
Bridget Riley once said “The eye can travel over the surface in a way parallel to the way it moves over nature. It should feel caressed and soothed, experience frictions and ruptures, glide and drift. One moment, there will be nothing to look at and the next second the canvas seems to refill, to be crowded with visual events.”
I love moths and their beauty is very often not appreciated as it is difficult to observe them as they tend to fly at night. Most are beneficial to the plants in our gardens, parks, fields and other habitats. I have been trapping moths for many years (I let them go every morning) and I am always amazed at the variety of shape, colour and beauty.
My work is based on in-depth observation of the moths that live in and around my garden. I look for what excites me about moths, abstract the information and create abstract felts based on it.
Note. Not all moths are pests, there are two small moths commonly found in the UK that can damage natural fibres, the common clothes moth (golden wings) and the case-bearing clothes moth (silver grey-brown wings). It is the larvae that cause damage to natural fibres as they feed on keratin, a protein found in animal fibres.
By Maggy Lightfoot