Sunday, October 31, 2010

Ice, by Sharon Robinson



sky painfully blue  
icicle piercing my heart
his disdain for me

This piece is 12" x 16."  I like my haiku, and I sort of like the quilt, but I'm not sure that it illustrates the poem.   The poem is about emotional coldness as well as seasonal cold.  I think that the icicle might not have been the best metaphor to represent that, because mental images of happy "winter wonderlands" are evoked by the icicle image.   


I really enjoyed thinking up haiku.  As others have said, I'd like to do more of these interpretations.  I started out wanting to work more abstractly, but I didn't like where that took me, so I cut out some realistic icicles.  Then it really seemed to want a horizon line.  Something was still missing, so I added the moon. That was the first thing I quilted, in a radial pattern.  It looked like a big blue grapefruit slice, so that had to go!  This was my first attempt at using metallic thread and I had a lot of fun using it for the free-motion quilting on the icicles.  I thought it would add perspective to have some horizontal lines on the snow, but the thread and I stopped getting along at that point.   So I reverted back to straight lines for the sky area.  Now I wish I'd just left it plain, but I thought they would help with the vertical emphasis of the icicles.  There were a few other technical glitches, but overall I am glad that I was able to finish it this weekend. (Except binding, which will happen this afternoon during the football game!)


Here's a detail shot:

I learned a lot on this challenge, and I'm eager to hear your comments.  

Thanks for a fun challenge, Kathy!

5 comments:

Jan said...

You've made a beautiful little quilt with wonderful quilting. I like the beading on the ice cycles.

I do think you're right, though, that it doesn't really illustrate the poem. I am thinking the poem is trying to say how someone is feeling blue and cold about a lover's sudden dislike for her???

But who cares? Great quilt!

fastfriday said...

Kathy,

I think your colors are crisp and cool denoting the season and feelings voiced in your haiku. I like where you have placed the moon and the foreground, giving the piece more interest. Using only a portion of the moon adds more interest. I also love the glitz on the icicles. What would you think of adding more quilting to the snow to give it more texture? Thanks for sharing!

Carole said...

The colors in this certainly evidence the feeling in your haiku.. and love's disdain can be interpreted as an icy winter .. the season aspect. I certainly like it and the only thing I would suggest is that the icicles be sharply pointed to represent the 'piercing' and in real life they can be pointed [a double play]...
I sure wouldn't be changing much...

Art by Rhoda Forbes said...

Wonderful, and I certainly can feel the words of your Haiku in the piece. A very lovely piece of work. The moon on the horizon is a great addition.

Cherie in Del Mar said...

Brrr...chilly! What if the icicles were dripping ? I would love to see a little sparkle and glitz in the snow as well. I love the verticle linear quilting in the sky.
Cherie