Tops and tails

I'm in the process of taking the tails off the teasels. The tops and tails will create two different pieces of work. I'm making up bags of 500 teasels heads which will be used for an installation (using several thousand teasels) as part of Quartz Festival at Queens College. This piece of work that will be created with help from the Junior School pupils.
The teasel tails are being wired together to make 'clothing'.
These teasels are very hard and I often prick my fingers and bleed everywhere.....memories of last year?

Hibernation over?

Now we're nearly in British Summer Time, I've decided to come out of hibernation. But working outside in the arctic wind this morning I may change my mind....

I've just taken delivery of 10,000 (40kgs) of teasels from a company in Yorkshire that imports them from Spain. This is Dipsacus sativus, the hooked teasel, which is still used by top-end clothing manufacturers, such as Johnston's of Elgin, to hand finish their garments.

I became fascinated by this humble teasel when researching it's history last year, and have several ideas for new work. The huge boxes are now taking up space in my hallway and blocking the daylight from our front door.