Each of the collage drawings in this series comes from the stylized silhouette of a leaf from the printed fabric Trees with Leaves, designed by Montreal artist Stanley Cosgrove.

The fabric was produced in the late 1940’s by Canadart Print Company for Henry Morgan and Company, a Montreal firm that in 1947 launched a collection of avant-garde products for home decor. It also was sold at the Robert Simpson Company in Toronto. One piece of this fabric is in the collection of the Musée des beaux arts in Montreal.

The works in steel have a different story.  In 2000, The Federation CJA (Jewish Community Campus) in Montreal commissioned me to make a quilt for their newly renovated building. However, as the proposed location for the work was sun-filled, which would be harmful to any textile, I offered to make a work in cut-steel instead. The patron stipulated that the theme of the work be drawn from the book of Genesis. I focused on the creation of the plants, to depict leaves from Biblical plants, and to call the work Cradle. I sought advice from metal shops and decided to use the Waterjet cutting process. My use of the process led to other works, including Leaf Lungs (below) and to the translation of a number of children’s drawings into steel.