Monday, December 31, 2007

Polar Ice


This emerged as I gathered my 'icy' bits.... I had a totally different
idea in mind when I started. I absolutely hate the cold, always feel like I am at the North Pole even if it is just at freezing. I did the mental thing Tina suggested, I saw ice cubes, with those hairline fracture lines. So... with some felting on felt to batting I made a polar bear, used three 'icy', definitely cold, fabrics, did some machine quilting on the fabric, trying to make it look cold. Then I added some shiny wired ribbon over the Arctic water, quilted that for a watery texture. Next, the organza on the actual ice. Shards of ice around the outer edges, 'fur'... my parka hood....to actually finish the piece. [Tina, I borrowed this finish from you], sewed on my polar bear, called it Polar Ice and here we are. I wanted it to look as tho' the bear was encapsulated in an ice cube.
Size 9" x 8"
Comments are always welcome.

7 comments:

Joni said...

Carol,
I like your litte polar bear, and the quilt really captures the feeling of Ice. The blues are wonderful, and definately cool. Very nice work.

Sandy said...

I think the fringe does finish it off well. good idea!

I'm not sure it makes me think of a polar bear caught in an ice cube, but I think the piece works very well to show a polar bear in his icy habitat.

Did you know they have either already done so, or are considering putting polar bears on the endangered list because so much of the polar ice is melting away now each summer? (It was on one of DS programmes on telly the other day.) Perhaps this piece could be used to draw attention to their plight!

Sandy in the UK

Roberta Ranney said...

Hi Carole - I really like the colors and textures you've put together to represent ice. I particularly like the jagged edges on the ice floes - they make the viewer "see" more ice than shows up in your picture. Great job with the challenge!

Roberta

Art by Rhoda Forbes said...

Very good interpretation of the icey north.
And the polar bear definitely looks at home in his 'cool' environment.

Cynthia Ann Morgan said...

Hi Carole,
This is a lovely piece...I wouldn't change a thing! I really like the simple but expressive stylized shapes and your choices for fabric and trim make it sing!

Cynthia

brendaj said...

Hi Carole,
I love the jagged shapes; reminds me of the Rudolph the Rednose Reindeer cartoon and the Abominal Snowman scenes. I think the polar bear is sylized perfectly to go with the background, more angular than rounded. I really love this. Great job.

Brenda

anna k. said...

Carole,
Love the polar bear and the trim on the edging.