Saturday, October 01, 2011

The Last Leaf


My grandpa was a watercolorist. I have two of his paintings, and this is my favorite. I think he even made the frame, which is quite rustic.
Using the soft, light colors as the background, I raw-edge appliqued the tree, then added snippets of leafy, grassy colors around the base of the tree, including a couple of real oak leaves. The leaves come from the park overlooking Minnehaha Falls in Minneapolis last week.
I'm sure the tree limbs are too "hefty, and I don't like that the same plaid fell into the two top corners. Funny what you don't see until you look at a photo.
This was a fun challenge, and I'm glad to be back in it.

5 comments:

Jan said...

Watercolor is a favorite of mine and I wish I could do it better. Lucky you to have such a cherished keepsake from your grandfather.
You've chosen your colors well to fit the watercolor. I think the plaids in the background add to the fall feeling. I didn't notice the two same in the corners until you mentioned it. I think you've found your one fault in the size of the tree limbs but otherwise I really like this piece!

katieinnebraska said...

Thank you, Jan. I fused a big piece of the brown and started cutting with scissors. After it was fused on, I realized that a real tree would have fallen over if it had to carry such heavy branches. Next time...this was a good learning experience.

Cherie in Del Mar said...

I love the soft, delicate feeling from your colors. Very peaceful
Cherie

Susan Ward said...

This is a fun piece, I really like the dark colors on the bottom of the tree and than mixed in with the fallen leaves. The dark makes the other colors pop.

Pam Harris said...

I didn't notice the matching corners as they are balanced by the other plaids in the background. Nice piece and the larger than life limbs add interest. Good balance of color.