This is a real experiment. Last year I had harvested some stems to see if I could figure out a way to use them on a quilt but never got around to trying them and thought this would be a good opportunity.
The background is inspired by leaf litter in the late fall when frost is turning some of the leaves icy blue. I ended up piecing the background--fusing would have been a lot faster. The more structured--rhythmic--pattern of the sticks was meant to contrast with the randomness of the background. Now that I know I can work with these stems on a quilt I am planning on doing some more experimenting with them--as soon as my schedule clears a bit. The quilt is small, 14 x 18".
Great challenge, Lisa. Comments appreciated.
Posts
5 comments:
Nice work. The twigs look like they fully integrate with the piece, and not just stuck on the outside. Are they heavy? Did you have any construction issues with them? Abstract leaves for the background work together so well.
Your background is very interesting and does remind me of the randomness of fallen leaves. The piecing of it must have been tedious. The pattern of the sticks brings rest for the eye. What exactly are the sticks made from and how did you attach them to the piece? Great work!
The intricacy and crazy angles of the background are amazing, but they made me wish for a little more variety in the twigs... maybe the shadow of bare tree limbs.
The darker sticks are the dried stems of goldenrod that I harvested in the fall last year. We have gorgeous fields of it and I wondered if they would go splintery on me. They seem to have remained nice and sturdy, cut fairly easily just with scissors, and are very light. The lighter colored ones are the overwintered stems of hosta flowers. These I just picked for this piece as I was cleaning up a garden bed but they of course were dried as well. I sewed these on by hand with loops of thread near each end. I didn't seal them with anything--would rather not use the chemicals--so part of the experiment is seeing how long they hold up. But in the spirit of Goldsworthy, it's okay even if they don't.
I love this piece! The sticks are so rhythmic and restful, while the background has movement and excitement. Ticia
Post a Comment