Babe, The Phoenix Fairy, and The Magic Grove

Description: Greer created three works for the Faye G. Allen Children's Center based on a series of folk tale themes found in the folklore section of the Central Library.  Babe is a large portrait bust of the royal blue ox whose horns are bejeweled with a random pattern of beads, buttons, sequins and embroidery on the felted wool background.  The Phoenix Fairy is perched upon a red patterned fabric branch above the librarians’ information desk.  The feathers that make up the majestic bird are individually sewn from different patterns and shades of red fabric, each one layered with a translucent red fabric, sandwiching a variety of sequins and glitter. Yellow and turquoise tail feathers cascade from the back of the bird.  Inspired by a Persian folktale, The Magical Grove is a stylized canopy of hand-sewn branches adorned with various shades of pink flowers that appear to grow from a column next to the mirrored wall in the Children’s Center.  

Artist Statement: The work for the children’s center seeks to honor the very first interactions we have with the library, as we learn it is a place for personal exploration. Each piece serves as a metaphor for a different idea of research. The Phoenix Fairy, is the metaphor of the continual rebirth of knowledge while at the same time staying constant.  For Babe, the metaphor is that history is a past that rests just below the surface of things; rich discovery is waiting to happen if we just investigate what resides around us.  For The Magical Grove, the metaphor is the expansion of a seed of an idea planted within us into the ongoing flourishing of our life.

Location: Central Library, 1000 Fourth Avenue, Seattle WA 98104