Savannah Botanical Garden
Project Type:
Hand-Dyed Machine-Knit Panel
Equipment & Materials:
- Single Bed Silver Reed Knitting Machine
- Design-a-Knit Software
- Solid shade acid hand-dyed wool/silk and mohair fibers
- Various colored wool roving and needle felting tools
Size:
W:2' x H:3' x D:1" panel
Date:
May, 2025
Savannah Botanical Garden is an imaginative transformation of Savannah’s Historic District into an abstract botanical garden. This 2’ x 3’ art panel, machine-knit with hand-dyed wool/sink and mohair fibers, reflects my fascination with landscape design and attachment to place. After studying the historic city map, I created a color-coded key and marked my favorite spots — local coffee shops, stores, and SCAD studios — later identifying and embellishing them on the knit surface with needle-felted rose bushes.
This work was on display at Pepe Hall's Senior Fibers Exhibition on Thursday, May 29th, 2025, accompanied by an identical printed map. Visitors were invited to mark their own favorite places on the map with location pin stickers to help me create a collective portrait of Savannah's community. I intend to continue embellishing this work as a collaborative piece through shared conversations with locals, highlighting the most loved places in Historic Downtown Savannah in a tactile, living map of memory.
Creative Process
- Brick fibers: 50% wool/50% silk blend;
- Grass fibers: 1 strand of 100% wool and 1 strand of 100% mohair knit together
- *Grass fibers required 2 dye baths as first one came out too neon
- Future embellishment to include more needle felting and beadwork
