Saturday, October 30, 2010

Mysterious Tree

This is my entry for the haiku challenge. I made the tree at the Thursday meeting of my art group. One of the members had taken a class with Nancy Zieman and taught us her technique. We used lots of different machine stitches to create the tree and the ground. When I got home I used a piece of batik and machine quilted it. I mounted the tree on the background, and added a sun. I couched the rays by hand and sewed on trims on the edges instead of binding the quilt.
My haiku probably leaves a lot to be desired, but the challenge was fun. Rosemary in St. Louis.
My haiku:
Mysterious tree
Whispers its old autumn wind song
Plaintive Melody

11 comments:

  1. Rosemary, this is really an interesting piece of art. Lot's of great texture in the tree and the rest of the piece. The sun is wonderful, a bit of realism and a bit of abstraction...great work.

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  2. Hi Rosemary, Wonderful quilting lines in this piece. I do wish there was something to balance the strong mysterious tree...perhaps if the sun were larger,higher contrast or there were some black birds or a dark cloud or two?

    Tell us about your interesting edge finish...it's very effective
    Cynthia

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  3. I think your Haiku is wonderful! Don't short change yourself. I like the tree, sun, and background but think like Cynthia that the left side of the background needs something. It seems too large and over-bearing for the smaller tree. Otherwise I like it!

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  4. I love the textures on your tree and ground! I agree the sun could be larger but I really like the texture.

    Pat Havey

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  5. Hi Rosemary... great job and please do tell us about your finishing. My first thought was that if the tree limbs extended beyond the confined space it is in, say up and out over a more brightly colored sun it could help with balance. Cynthia has suggested birds... perhaps on a limb or two, mayabe flying in?
    Love the quilting and the texture it creates.

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  6. It looks like you had fun playing with your machine and a variety of thread. I like the fact the tree is off center and would also like to know more about how you finished the edge. I like the idea of a larger sun to use up some of the space on the left side.

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  7. Rosemary,

    I love your piece for all the texture it evokes. The dark earth fabric below the tree really grounds it (no pun intended)! I would lke to see a larger picture of the piece, so that I could truly see and enjoy all the embellishing and stitching which you did. I also agree that something needs to be placed in the left background piece to balance it, maybe some stamped or stenciled leaves. Love your fabric choices.

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  8. Rosemary,
    This piece makes me think of African textile art - in part because of the earthy tones but also with the textured graphic embellishments.

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  9. I think I finally mastered how to post a comment on critiques! Yeah!
    This is how I finished the edge: I used a multicolored ribbon. It was frayed on both sides, and was mostly brown, with some blotches of blue and dark red. It was about 1/2 inch wide. I laid it on the quilt , on the edge, and hand sewed it down. I really just tacked it, using regular thread. Rosemary in St. Louis

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  10. Hi Rosemary, I, too, love all the texture and am fascinated by the edge finish. I also agree that it could use a little more emphasis on the left side. However, I think, for me, IMHO, that just cropping off a bit of the left side would take care of that. It is an interesting work and definitely invokes the emotion of the Haiku.

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  11. I was thinking the same thing as Betty. What if you crop some off the left side and the top, placing the sun in the corner? I used my little crop view card on the screen and it looked really good. Either way, great piece and very nice haiku
    Cherie

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