Saturday, September 05, 2009

Challenge #36-Misty Valley by Elaine Koenig


I used some purple fabric from a scarf and misty fuse on cheese cloth. Layered the fabric to get darker colors and stitched edges. It needed "something" so tried foiling it and then added green "trees" with paint stick. zigzagged the birds. I had to put it on a white back in order to see it. Transparent fabrics have unique problems but I want to try this again and make a true transparent piece. I have a lot of ideas! Critiques are welcome. Elaine

8 comments:

Jan said...

This is a very delicate piece and I love the way the hills fade away to lighter lavenders. The white and green seem to be too over powering for the delicateness of the rest of the piece. Mainly I think because they're too large and might have worked better smaller. What if you put a lavender sheer over that area to tone it down a bit? I really do like it, though! Great idea and piece.

Cynthia Ann Morgan said...

Hi Elaine, Lovely effects with the overlapping purple sheers...very misty indeed. And the sky, high horizon and the binding choice all add to the beauty of the piece. The foil and green paint detracts though. You probably wanted to add some interest in the foreground which is a good idea. I guess some delicate trees at the bottom would be nice..either in some green sheers or in thread.
I look forward to seeing more of your work!
Cynthia

Carole said...

I agree.. a very lovely, delicate piece, and since the white and green are demanding all the attention,some thread painting along the bottom and up the right side a bit would add balance...
I really like how you did your overlapping of sheers causing that gradation.

Monty Wilson said...

Your purple mountains are so pretty. I like that the whole piece is see-through - I never would have thought to do that.

Wendy said...

Gradations are lovely..... I agree with the others, the green on the left demands too much attention... need some balance on the left.... welcome to the group!

janice pd said...

Lovely. I would suggest that you could try to balance the greens with a single piece coming from the right side. Love your gradations!

Sandy said...

Hi Elaine,
I am so glad you joined right in. A bit scary I think, especially as some of the rest of us have been working up to being brave enough to do this challenge!

you did very well with the transparent layers. It makes me think of changing a song name from Strawberry to "Lavender Fields forever"!

I think I agree with the balance needed in the front. an extra piece similar on the other side would help. I wouldn't make it too big, just the edge. you could even make it so it covered the binding and go off the page, so to speak. It would help with the balance without making it look like you tried to be symmetrical.

I am glad you are going to try to do the same thing without putting an opaque background. I know what you mean about not being able to see it, but that is one of the things that makes a fully transparent piece unique. I am sure you would like it if you did. if you worried about the binding being too heavy for the the thin fabrics, you can always bind with more transparent fabrics.

Thanks for being a part of the challenge!
Sandy

fastfriday said...

Thanks to all for the suggestions and kind words. I would like to try a transparent binding. That would be much better.I just figured out how to make comments so am late responding.
Elaine Koenig