The Exemplary 2026
What Treasures Lie at the Forest Floor by Kim Berry-Rogers
1st Place, Non-Professional Mixed Media

I purchased this antique Victorian footrest several years ago. I wanted to recover it with something related to the forest. It was well loved, but I thought it could still have a second life.

I stripped it of its tattered coverings and did a little sanding and used some Old English to perk it up a bit. I love its cylindrical and aged worn look. I wondered how many tiny feet may have rested upon it in the last 100+ years just as one could wonder how many feet have stepped on the forest floor through the ages.

Forest walks are a favorite pastime for me. When you look deeply at nature you can see what wonders are found there. The forest is an exceptional and inspirational treasure chest: fungus, mushrooms, lichen, bones, feathers, stones, minerals to name a few.
Trees and animals that have passed on but become a host to new life. They remind us that life continues on. It is a place of wonderful discovery where the most amazing shapes, textures, and colors can be found. I stitched my version of the forest floor adding in many items I have found and discovered hiding in plain sight.

I attached my new stitched piece and used the original trim I had removed from its original covering at the bottom of the piece to pay homage to the original maker.

I enjoyed embroidering little lichens and felting mushrooms, and manipulating silks and velvets and other organic fabrics and natural threads into “new life” just as the forest floor continually does for its own inhabitants.