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SEA LIFE statement and close up images
in this column below.
Sea Life is a work I had wanted to do for a very long time. I had been "collecting fish ideas" long before I actually started the pieces. I had assumed I would create the work by making an applique art quilt. I never got around to doing that. However, when I started making Fabric Compositions on canvas, I knew this is how I would approach my vision.
All of the fabric used in this work is my own hand-painted fabric (colorfast, fade resistant, 200 count combed cotton). Every element is one piece of fabric... eyes, lips, fins, teeth, markings, body, etc. The only exception to this is the dolphin and the hammerhead shark which are each one piece of fabric - due to the lack of detail since they are farther back in the scene / water. Once a fish is assembled, then I would add the black outline of parts for a cartoon-look.
I broke my original design into two panels simply to make it easier for the finished work to be moved, stored, hung, etc. Unlike a quilt, these can not be rolled up. They are stretched canvas frames, each measuring 42"W x 36"H x 1-1/2"D. I thought a single frame 84 inches wide and unflexible, would have too many handling issues. However, to keep the panels visually joined, I kept the sea floor continuous and arranged a fish and seahorse (each on separate panels) looking at one another. I hang the panels with about one inch between them, as opposed to touching. They look better this way. Note, the fabrics do wrap around the sides so no frame is necessary.
When I actually began the work, I had a layout of where each fish was going to go. In my mind, I saw a simple sea floor. However, when it came to doing this, I spent a lot of time creating a very detailed and interesting bed with rocks, coral, plant life, anemones, clams, starfish and a lobster. This I made up as I went along, before any fish was added. I ended up very pleased because it gave the work much more depth. It also rewards the viewer who really looks at the details and not just the comical fish. For instance, for the tube worms (just above the closed clam), I actually used real feathers (pulled apart to get individual "strands") for their "feathers."
Despite the amount of time cutting fabric so exact, the tedious outlining, the amount of overlapping "just so," and doing what was necessary to avoid any air bubbles, I enjoyed creating Sea Life immensely. I am very pleased I did not create his work as an art quilt. I am much happier knowing that the work is more protected from harm... being completely encased, permanently, in archival acrylic.
Left Panel close up images
Right Panel close up images
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OTHER SELECTED WORKS
in this column below.
The Art Of Coffee 30" x 30"
I like coffee. That is an understatement. Caffeine? Doesn't do anything for me and I can't taste the difference, so I order (or brew) decaf. Although I live in a small town, there is a Starbucks shop and a wonderful local coffee house. Not only that, there is a Starbucks in one of the supermarkets and in one of the local churches. In coffee shops I always admire the surreal coffee art... so decided I wanted something "coffee" in my kitchen. This piece is the first of a series.
Fall Wind 24" x 36"
I have a thing with trees, and leaves. I am not sure if it has to do with being a Nature lover or the change of seasons but I suspect there is some deeper appreciation I am not yet aware of. So, having been a quilter for so long, I have a large fabric stash of leaf prints. When I decided to give away much of my commercial fabrics, I thought I better make something with leaves before parting with the collection.
Somewhere on the Internet, I remembered seeing art with a bending tree such as in this piece. I thought, if the tree is bending there must be a strong wind and thus my leaves will have to be blowing all around... even off the artwork which is why I show the work installed. (So you can see the leaf on the wall.)
My fabric choices were a mottled background for the millions of leaves blowing in the distance, working towards a foreground scale where I used individual cut-out leaves. The leaf blown off to the left is also completely coated in acrylic. Why a purple tree? I didn't want brown tones so I opted for the color of the opposite walls in the room. The bark texture is achieved with individual pieces of fabric. The leaf "bouquet" just happened to be handy for the table below.
Mushroom Place 24" x 36"
This composition was inspired by several pieces of fantasy artist
Linda Ravenscroft. She depicts a mushroom village growing on a stump. I wanted my tree to still be alive and with a canopy of leaves. I have intentions to do a mushroom village, full of detail, probably in colored pencil, so with this composition I opted for just a mushroom "place" - maybe this is on the outskirts of the village?
The tree and background are of commercially printed fabrics and the leaves, mushrooms, and rocks are scraps of my hand-painted fabrics.
Yes, I know the hummingbird is difficult to see at first. This is intentional. In most of my work, no matter the medium, I like to include details only those who take the time to really look may find.
Paisley Plants 24" x 36"
My fabric collecting days were not just for typical quilting cottons. I also have a wide selection of home decor fabrics - many with paisleys. (I have a love or hate relationship with paisleys.) Actually, I can be more exact... I have exactly 80 gallons of high-end home decor paisley prints. I know this because they are stored separately in an 80 gallon rubber tote which I have to sit on to compact enough for the cover to fit.
So one day I thought to use this fabric for a composition on canvas. I didn't even make a dent in the stash as I still have to sit on the cover to make it fit. Finding motifs to cut out without obvious missing parts was a challenge. (Most printed fabric designs overlap one another.) This composition represents dozens of prints and many individual motifs cut out from them.
I created arrangements on a design wall, and many variations (photographed with a digital camera so I'd remember what they were) before I decided on this arrangement. I think the biggest challenge was not all the exact cutting, but finding elements and arrangements so that I had an overall design without the background fabric showing too much or too little in any one place (my intention from the start).
Note - the background fabric (mottled cream tones) is one piece of fabric. It may look darker at the top (excuse my photography skills) but it is actually as you see in the lower part of the work. One day I will take a better image.
Rain Drop Bouquet 24" x 36"
When I was making quilted art "full steam ahead," I collected most every gadget available for purchase thinking, "One day I may need these..." The day hasn't arrived where I have needed the plastic teardrop shaped templates, made for making quilted feather designs - at least not for quiltmaking.
I found the templates when thinking about what my next fabric composition might be. Rain Drop Bouquet is my attempt to use them very simply as a study of what I might do with them in something more detailed. I decided to include it here (selected works) to show fabric compositions can be very simple and still be interesting.
What may appear to be a frame is actually a fabric border, which wraps around the sides to the back.
Scrap Study 37" x 17"
One day, with extra pieces of wood left over from making one of the stretched canvas frames above, I made this one, and the scrap study composition - just for fun. I cut strips (of my hand-painted fabric scraps) with a curved-edge rotary cutter. For the circles I made use of a variety of plastic circle templates. Once I was done, I wished I had put black drop shadows behind the circles - next time I will.
Note - although it may not appear so, I took great care to make sure my lines were exactly parallel or perpendicular. They are.
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