Friday, January 29, 2010

Fractured Egret as a mobile = fabric art on the move

You have to be over 'a certain age' to remember Frank Sinatra belting out “My Way”. I remember it well. As this project morphed from one thing to another the words, “I did it my way” kept floating through my mind.

As I began to look at the suggestions for fractured things, mosaics appealed to me. Thinking on a grand scale I thought I would do a fractured water lily with an overlay of a dragonfly. I had some sheer fabric just waiting to be used. I found several dragonfly photos, blew one up to a size I thought I could stitch, ~20” long for a single wing. I'm thinking maybe I'll just do the wings as a mobile. By Sunday night I had finished tracing both parts of a single wing onto a sheer paper so that I could just turn it over to get the other side. Taking a break, I got something to eat. When I picked up the spoon to eat my soup, a horrible pain went through my fingers, hand and arm. I could not pick up a spoon without horrible pain. I took some Ibuprofen and sat down at the computer to read; just rocking and holding the arm I had stupidly injured myself. I definitely was not going to trace these again. Of course I was able to eat using my left hand. Not much keeps me from putting food into my mouth.

The next day I took my drawings to a copy place. 4 to 5 hour wait. Nope. I just could not do that. Luckily I didn't do that because when I tried to stitch my sheer fabric over the paper, I could not get the paper out of those little bitty spaces. HMMM.

More research for a winged thing. I was now loving the idea of a mobile. As I surfed, I saw a GREAT plane with a man inside running across the ground. The wings were 3 high and the tail had lots of interesting pieces. I can now imagine this could really have a lot of movement. As I started drawing and planning, I realize I really didn't want a plane. How about a butterfly; hours later that was not working for me. I started looking at birds and mobiles. I did not want a flock of birds. Rather, my vision, was for one bird that I would fracture.

I used one fabric on one side and another on the opposite side. I sewed with a clear polyester in the bobbin and a silver thread on top. As I researched fabrics, polyester is the most resistant to sun and age deterioration. This is what influenced my fabric and thread choices.
Finally, I have something I really like. Luckily, I decided to do a small study instead of a LARGE piece. Balancing the pieces was tricky for me. I used thin black wire and bent my shapes and attaching rings. Because normally these things are done using heavier materials then soldering a ring at the balance point, I added weight [extra wire] when I did my balancing. The beak is really lots of wire, wrapped, then painted. I sewed a layer of sheer fabric to each side, stopped the fray with liquid stitch, then purposefully frayed the edges, ie feathers.

Remembering the goals of this group: “it is through doing that we will learn.” Yes, I learned a lot. Plus, the end of the challenge always states something similar to , “remember to have fun”. Please note it is the Fast Friday Fabric Challenge; not a quilting challenge.

I earned a lot [by doing] + + + I had FUN! I must have inadvertently or subconsciously had the rules in mind all along.

Egret flat

Egret in flight as seen from dining [studio area]

Egret in flight; view from kitchen

Yes, “I did it my way. . .” Ann E. Ruthsdottir aka designerann

11 comments:

  1. what a journey, Ann! I enjoyed reading about it, and enjoy also what you have created.
    Chris Predd

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  2. I am really enjoying all the different ideas on fracturing. Yours is truly creative and fun

    Pat Havey

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  3. Wild! and I can see you had fun here, Ann.

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  4. Interesting take on this challenge. You certainly accomplished the fracture part of it.

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  5. Oh Ann, this is so cool! I would love to have him "flying" in my home! Are you going to add any color to him? What a unique idea...love it
    Cherie

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  6. Wow! Did you ever get creative with the fracture part of the challenge and what a fun, unique, great piece you came up with! Wonderful job!

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  7. What a fun piece that will brighten your days. I think adding a touch of color to the piece will really make it stand out and give it even more personality but then it would no longer be an egret. Very creative piece. Thanks for sharing.

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  8. Hi Ann...your way is fun and unique indeed. Great job!
    Cynthia

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  9. What a great idea! Thanks for sharing this!

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  10. Sometimes mistakes or problems lead us to more fantastic pieces. While I'm sorry you're having trouble with your hands, this is one utterly fantastic egret! Wonderful!

    Lisa Quintana

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  11. Ann, "your way" is very creative. What a wonderful imagination you must have! It is interesting how in one photo your egret picks up the colors from the light hitting it.

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