I won't have much in the way of fiber art comments for a while. My husband had a heart attack the day before Thanksgiving, and is in CCU. Lots to be thankful for, but no art to speak of right now. I hope to be back at it soon.
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I've been working on a new piece titled "Tympani #I". Not because of my amazing percussion talents (or any musical talent, for that matter), but because I wanted to try to capture the feeling one gets when the kettledrums come into a piece of music. You feel it in your liver before you even hear it, and there's a visceral excitement in your mind by the time the sound registers. I think that's very exciting. So I researched tympani and learned more that I ever wanted to know about their history, including some cool images of kettledrums strapped to either side of a horse and played while riding. Must have required some pretty extensive training for the horse as well as the musician. Not a great photo, but you can get an idea of the swirling sound waves and the aqua/copper/purple color scheme. I've added beads and metallic stitching as well. It's just under 36" on a side. Here's a detail of the "window," a sheer area that lets light through if displayed properly. You can see all the hand stitching and some of the embellishment. So now I'm in search of a tympanist or other percussion fan who might be interested in something like this. I'll start on "Tympani #2" soon; it's mainly in shades and textures of copper. So I did print and cut out and fuse the needed mushroom photos, and put on the binding, and make a label for the back. "Toadstools" is done, I'm relieved. It is up off the floor of the studio, no longer nagging silently every time I walk by. The quilt is 80" by 80", hand and machine quilted. Looking at it now, I think about how I could have redistributed the blocks. All in all, though, I like the colors, love the mushrooms, and I'm very glad to be done with it. Here's a detail with one of the mushroom appliques fused over a "problem area." I think the little appliques add some whimsy to what would otherwise be a pretty static quilt. On the back, the label warns readers against gathering these particular mushrooms, which are toxic. It's election day, and I've voted already. Friends of mine are running for local offices, so I'm anxious to hear the results this evening. One of the good things about living in a small town. Many years ago, my high school civics teacher advised us that the most important vote we'd cast would be the local one because those votes have the most direct impact on our daily lives. That may be the only thing I remember from civics, but it's a good one. Have you ever had a project that just wouldn't get finished? Over two years ago I made a quilt titled "Toadstools," based loosely on a photo in a quilt magazine. That one was a Civil War era quilt with millions of half-square triangles--I didn't reproduce that part, nor did I use their color scheme. Just the basic layout, with a nice mushroom print in each block. Pleasant dirty-purple and soft reds, some pink, blue and greens. Anyway, as it neared completion, there were some "problem areas" that were just unlikely to get fixed. To me, they stood out and ruined the quilt. I decided to take the musroom print remnants and fuse them over the problems. I had them all on fusible, cut artistically and ready to apply when . . . I lost them! I have looked everywhere, under carpets, behind furniture--there is a black hole somewhere that contains my appliques. So the quilt has sat, fully quilted, binding ready to apply, waiting for its fix. And this morning, as I woke too early to get up (because of time change back to Standard Time) it came to me: I can find mushroom photos on the web! And adapt them to my needs! So here is the lovely, Wikipedia usable photo, which I am carefully attributing to [email protected] . Thanks, Onderwijsgek. You have made my day. I can finish the thing and quit feeling guilty/stupid. This afternoon we'll go to the International Quilt Festival, probably buy some fabric and thread, maybe beads. I'm running low on copper colored beads. Admire all the exhibits, try to quash envy. I have two small quilts in the Texas SAQA exhibit, so I'll reclaim those at the end of the day. When Toadstools is finished, in a few days, I'll post a photo. Isn't it great how things like this percolate deep in the mind, then float to the surface while you're dozing? |
AuthorBobbe Shapiro Nolan, Fiber Artist in Eagle Lake, TX. Trying to learn to call the sewing room my studio, and myself an artist. I retired after 15 years in hospice nursing--so now I have the time!. Archives
July 2021
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