Saturday, December 01, 2007

Garden Benches


I started with a photo that I took in Hamilton Gardens in New Zealand, where I was standing under a trellis structure built over an intersection of walkways. I planned to put that structure in last, and found that I could not get that effect because of the scale and point of view that I had established in the picture -- not to mention misinterpreting the design of the bricks in the intersection. So I have three posts of a structure, and trying to create the part that would connect to the fourth one, behind the viewer so to speak, just didn't work.

I added the shadows last, partly because I was also adding shading beneath the benches, and also shaded the farthest post and part of the trellis, and that at least created some dimensionality to the piece.
The benches are Etal, a kind of metallic paper, my first use of that, though I've had it around for a while. And next time, I'll just glue it on; it kept breaking the thread as I tried to sew it!

4 comments:

Cynthia Ann Morgan said...

Hi Tobi, This could be a companion piece to your hobbit window piece from last year...I can just imagine a couple hobbits or ghomes sitting on those little benches swinging their tiny legs. I like the colors you chose, the yellow-orange looks great. Good job!
Cynthia

anna k. said...

Tobi,
you have done a good job of translating that photo into fabric.
Just love the park benches.
Strange that you had difficulty with the Etal and thread breaking.
Anna.

Roberta Ranney said...

Hi Tobi - Cynthia is right - this is reminiscent of the hobbit window quilt (which I loved). It seems to capture a quiet moment in time - welcoming benches and greenery. Nice work.

Roberta

Carole said...

Nice Tobi......
the benches are so inviting.. its almost an Alice in Wonderland setting.
I do not know Etal, but will be researching.
Carole