Janet Bednarczyk

I find it fascinating how the currents in rivers appear to reverse or flow upstream whenever the water flows past immovable objects.  This area is called an eddie and it is a circular flow of liquid which forms temporary whirlpools against the main river flow.

Sitting next to a river I found inspiration in watching the river eddies. This interest grew when I discovered that they were first described by Archimedes in 246 BC. Eddie flow principles are part of the science of fluid dynamics which has broad reaching applications in aerospace, civil, chemical and biomedical engineering as well as geophysics, oceanography, meteorology, as well as astrophysics and biology. 

So I have been inspired by the history as well as the broad reaching applications of this small thing called river eddies.  I have tried to create the feeling of actively flowing water by downloading images based on fluid dynamic studies which I then painted onto silk-cotton voile and machine and hand stitched.