Monday, August 31, 2009

Water Dragon

Here is the Water Dragon. He lives in a lake that surrounds a particularly bleak castle. Some people think he is guarding treasure, but no one has ever been able to get near enough to find out for sure! Some people say his fins sting in a similar manner to the stings from a jelly fish. I wonder how they know?


I used a fabric I have been calling a mystery fabric. It is very thin and paper like. I used silk organza for a base and laid on various layers of different colours, fully covering the organza. Then I fused them in place with a light grey blue piece fused with Misty Fuse. The dragon is made using a metallic organza of blue shot with silver. His flowing fins are not caught down. The quilting is done with transparent thread. the windows of the castle are cut out with a soldering iron.

I tried to get a shot to show the transparency better. The top photo is taken laying on white paper. Here the piece hangs in front of a mirror and you can see the back as well.

I thought I would try doing horizontal layers. So, there is the lake shore, the line where the castle hits the water, and the castle crenelations/towers.

7 comments:

janice pd said...

Really nice piece Sandy. I think this is one of my favorites of your dragon series. You definitely hit the challenge on both transparency and horizon line.

Betty Warner said...

I agree that you met the challenge. When I look at your second photo, in front of the mirror, which I am able to look at in a larger version, I see that you have been very successful implementing the horizontal layers. There is depth. Great job!
Oh, and I like your dragon story.

Betty Warner

Carole said...

Sandy, when I saw this, I knew exactly what you expected out of this challenge! Great job of depicting it. I appreciate all the components... line and design.. and story-telling.
Thank you for saying we did not need BOTH a horizon and transparency!
Hugs on that!

Joni said...

Sandy, What an imagination you have! A dragon that swims the mote with tentacles like a giant jellyfish. I like the way the castle seems to have a cloud of mist surrounding it. The viewer is filled with foreboding and mystery. Wow!

Cynthia Ann Morgan said...

Hi Sandy, yes, no one has the imagination you do! Very cool effects!
Cynthia

LAQuilts said...

Love the gloomy transparent fog. Of course the dragon works was well. The ratio works surprisingly well for this piece.

Sandy said...

Thanks for the comments. Sometimes it is quite stressful living with my imagination! you always feel like things run away with you a bit. you are always trying to get your skills to catch up with your brain! LOL
That's why I have appreciated FFFchallenge so much. It really means I can learn as well as use my imagination.
thanks!
Sandy