Wednesday, November 01, 2006

The Beast of Slithertongue

Beware the forest of growing I's
where even toadstools have found demise,
there roams "The Beast of Slithertongue"
who feeds on gems and gentle ones.

Beware the bog of no escape,
the claw of fears and moss thou drape,
the trees of bare and tugley wood,
of Jabberwock mis-understood.

finished size: 12 1/2 x 16
Trapunto,fusing,machine applique,free motion quilting,beads & gem, various yarns,& wire.

I would very much be open to suggestions/critque
on this, as I had to step back for a day after It took on a life of it's own.
Was definately a multi-learning experience for me.
On a lighter note...The trees are stuffed with a pillow that had exploded in my dryer, so I did use re-cycled elements. Just glad no animals were harmed in the process as the claw looks like the foot of a chicken! Santaria anyone? WINK!


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6 comments:

Sonja Threadgill Nelson said...

Thanks Penny,
Constructing the claw was the most fun. I didn't really get this challenge, so in my poem,I poked fun at myself...claws of fears thou drape, ect...Jabberwock mis-understood before anyone else could, but It sounded kinda negative, which wasn't my intent at all, just my frustration with the process/materials that I chose. Thanks for being so beginner friendly!

Cynthia Ann Morgan said...

Hi Sonja, What is that wonderful background fabric? It really shows alot of depth and spookiness! I can almost see godzilla's head peeking over the top of the cliff/quilt edge). Your quilting lines played up the fabric very effectively, too. The monster, claw and I's have good contrast and coloring against the green. Only comment I have...are the dangling fibers on the right side adding or detracting from the piece? There is already alot going on and they may be too much.

An interesting piece! Now, tell me...where did you find that fabric?

Cynthia

Sonja Threadgill Nelson said...

Thanks for being so kind Cynthia, I had alot of trouble with the subject, even though I knew I had the right background, it was perfect! I bought on-line as a group of hand-dye 1/8ths on auctionfab.com. If I were to do this piece over I would leave out the creature & use a snakeskin/scale print to give it a monster element. Yarn dangling represents the claw of fears & moss thou drape...last minute detail added to show my personal disappointment on the finished project. Would love to do it over!

laura west kong said...

Very dramatic! I like the dragon, it stands out wonderfully against your great background fabric. I'm not sure what, if anything I would change. This seems like one of those pieces you really need to see in person, with the shine of the background fabric and the 3-D elements of the claw and yarn on the right. It fits the Jabberwocky perfectly.

Roberta Ranney said...

Hi Sonja - I love it - exploding pillows and chicken claws. Santaria indeed! I wish you had enjoyed the process more or that it had been more what you wanted because I think it came out well. That background fabric has a lot of eerie mystery and the fire-breathing dragon fit well with our theme. But that claw truly gives me the creeps - I couldn't sleep in the same room with it.

I hope you keep on having fun with this. And I like your interpretation of the poem!

Roberta

Sonja Threadgill Nelson said...

Laura&Roberta,
thanks for being so helpful.I'm not a planner type,it just has to start & go without turning back for me. Hopefully this is something I will learn to do as time goes by. The sequence in doing this project was so very wrong, therefore limiting me as to what could be done as the next step, so I had to improvise alot! The proper steps will come, & I appreciate all of you for letting me take them.