One day in high school English class Mrs. Bowen assigned us an EE Cummings poem. Minutes went by as I stared at the letters and then….. I read it!
Decades later I honored this experience with “A Leaf Falls”.
Welcome to my favorite season.
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- EE Cummings
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- A Leaf Falls, Susan L Feller
The design evolved from a sketch of migrating birds gathering seeds outside of our home one October day. The Carolina Wren’s tiny body with tail sticking up and beak down looked like a leaf. Gathering yellows and muted gold wools, I organically filled in defined shapes keeping three openings for my leaves. Two leaf shapes are stuffed and stitched onto the linen backing. Their veins and stems are copper wire anchored by gold threads. The third is partially stuffed but its edge flutters because of a layer of iron-on interfacing with wire inserted between two pieces of wool and bent to shape.
I sent off a card with the image and poem as a thank you note to Mrs. Bowen and received a lovely note back. It felt nice to have been able to send my appreciation after all these years.
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- Beginning of hooking
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- leaf shapes identified
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- leaves cutout
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- stuffed leaf with wire
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- fluttering leaf edge
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- A Leaf Falls, Susan L Feller
ArtWools Studio of Susan Feller 
Lovely, Susan. Both the piece and the gesture. Finally it might be fall. . . .
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My favorite season! This piece is so beautiful!!!
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This is exactly how I see and know you…thoughtful, introspective and able and willing to share what you see and feel with others.
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I absolutely love this! So beautiful. And it is wonderful that you got to thank your teacher. Most teachers have no idea how many lives they touch and in what way. I was able to thank a high school teacher a few years back before he died and it meant a lot to both of us. Thank you for sharing, Susan.
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This is so inspiring. Thank you.
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