"Pick Up Fiddlesticks"
"When I was in grade school all my friends got to choose instruments to learn in the orchestra. I wanted to play the drums but we couldn't afford to rent them. Instead, my mother dug up my grandpa's old violin and I was mortified- especially since the wooden case that went with it looked like a coffin! Mom salvaged my pride somewhat by lining the case with a piece of an old mink stole so I felt special (maybe that was the start of my fascination with the power of textiles?) I screetched along on that violin for two years until my parents gave up and let me quit. Now of course, one of my few regrets in life is that I never learned to play, and that old violin is one of my prized possessions.
I don't know of any other
instrument that sounds as bad when you are first learning it except maybe
the bagpipes. When I was given this child's violin I immediately thought
of my mother's attempt to soothe the pain and decided to muffle it with a
slipcover. Cloth is comfortable, approachable and universally understood. The
pick-up sticks embellishment 
represents the drumsticks I pined for. The
color is the music I wish I could make. "Mom, if you'd found this
fiddle in the attic, I bet I'd still be playing today!"
Briony
Briony Jean Foy designs and creates one-of-a-kind scarves, shawls and installation pieces in her studio here in Madison. She teaches weaving and other textile design courses at the University of Wisconsin- Madison and Milwaukee and also gives workshops and private lessons across the country and in Canada. She has exhibited nationally and internationally and is the recipient of a 2004 Wisconsin Arts Board Fellowship Award in recognition of her work in the visual arts.
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