Ray of hope

From the smallest candle shines a ray of hope we have heard throughout our lives. At this time of disaster all rays of hope I am sure are welcome. This piece is raw edge and many overlays of fabric - simple and direct.

Pat Havey

I took Jans suggestion and added quilt lines radiating from the white.

The Waiting Bride

This piece is a painted composite done in Photoshop. I used white mist to convey the illusion of a bride waiting for her groom, but is she there now or is she a ghost? You decide.

All comments welcome!

Into the Woods by Cynthia Ann Morgan

The atmosphere I was going for was a mysterious, moody, misty, slightly scary walk in the woods.  This is a small piece 9 x 10" using hand dyed fabrics and raw edge applique.  What do you think?
Cynthia

Flowing Summer Flowers

This is a Nuno Felted Scarf - Flowing Summer Flowers
I used a silk blend fabric with hand dyed alpaca roving and curls. The fabric has green and blue tones it is pretty sheer and reflects the colors of the roving .. One of my favorite things are summer flowers!

"sisters"

I took Carole's challenge as using color to portray mood and atmosphere in this challenge. I've used some very bright colors in this piece to portray the liveliness of jazz. Also some hand stitching to create the movement of music. My older sister plays piano and has the most beautiful jazz voice, and I ...well I always dreamed of playing stand up base. So here we are 'Sisters'.

Looking forward to your comments, and thanks for the great challenge Carole.

Pastel Corn

Great timing for this challenge. Next week I'll be in Colorado at a pastel painting week in the mountains with my sister. I've been practicing all week since I haven't done anything with pastels in several years. Doing laundry the other day I noticed the pile of lovely colored 'Color Guard' sheets from previous washings. I had 4 of these lovely mahogany colored sheets. This a.m. I put one on my drawing board and proceeded to do a painting of a dried cornstalk simulating what they must look like now in dry Texas compared to our nice green ones here in Nebraska. Interesting surface to work on. I had a fairly nice drawing and then decided to attempt some quilting lines for more detail. MISTAKE! It shook loose much of the pastel muddying the appearance. So I took it back for more pastel. Of course, I couldn't get the original look. But here is the finished piece and I learned a lot about surfaces with this little piece. Thanks for a wonderful, timely challenge!

Desert Sand Storm Coming

I finally am posting an offering in a timely fashion. This is a small quilt about 8 x 10, using hand-dyed background fabric and a commercial fabric for the threatening cloud (wave) of sand. It is fused and has some very light foil on the cloud. The sun has heavy gold quilting and then heavy gold foil to make you feel the heat.

This was really fun and interesting to do.

Comments welcome and apreciated

"Brewing"

For this challenge I chose a photo I took in Florida just before a storm arrived. I have always intended to interpret this one so loved the chance to do so for this piece.

I painted the background sky with watercolor pencils on white silk charmeuse. The water is two layers of sheers: the ground is black suede cloth and the trees are cut from a printed fabric and fused and stitched on. I painted the tree trunks. The grasses are thread painting.

It measures 19 1/2"x13 1/2".

This was a super challenge Carole...Thanks!

All comments welcomed and appreciated.

Cherie

Textured Photos

For my challenge I textured two photos. I used a photo of a previous Fast Friday challenge photo for one and another Fast Friday photo for the texture on the other one.

I hope they aren't considered things done in the past because I just used them for raw material.
The challenge was the texturing that I did yesterday. I'm just learning how to do that.

You can see the before and after on my Flickr photo stream at or near the top. I have the photos that I used posted as a comment.

www.flickr.com/photos/squarequilter

Challenge #60 Atmosphere and Mood using Color

FFFC Challenge 60 – August 2011    

Atmosphere and mood using color

Host:  A Carole Grant                                    Due: Sept 3 noon ET

Let’s use color to create an atmosphere and mood in our challenge piece.  And for this challenge, for a change…you can choose a different medium than fabric if that appeals to you.  Paper art, photography, mixed media, painting, drawing or whatever else.

Mood/Atmosphere in Art – definition and examples: 

http://tinyurl.com/3c7yzus   http://www.pbase.com/pnd1/atmosphere_and_mood  http://www.danielsmith.com/Item--i-E-LightHarmony
 Heavy rain?       Alfred Sisley                       http://tinyurl.com/3m8hey2

Time of day?    Entitled ‘ Chicago Glow’    http://tinyurl.com/4ymo9y6

Water?      Entitled ‘Maine Mist’             http://tinyurl.com/444a4er

I love this one….   Entitled ‘Ridge Light’     http://tinyurl.com/4yh4kqr

In the clouds?      http://tinyurl.com/3eldc4w

Interesting use of color to depict mood and atmosphere on this blog:   http://blog.jromeo.es/en/

Joan Fullerton, artist   http://tinyurl.com/3w9qlw8

Annette Dion McGowan, artist   http://tinyurl.com/3fs86u9

Spring atmosphere--- Joseph Mazzucco  http://www.fotoblur.com/images/187864

night storm?  Photograph, Edmondo Senatore   http://tinyurl.com/3b4ut2k

Great artwork for ideas, Malcolm Bamford   http://tinyurl.com/3g5v2oz

And Some Art Quilt examples:  http://www.sueholdaway-heys.com/

http://www.saqa.com/collectors.php?ID=1823

http://www.lindalevinart.com/      http://www.hollisart.com/gallery.php

Contemplation

This quilt is based on a photo of my niece sitting on a sand dune. So far the top is only fused, not quilted. It is approx. 24" x 24". The shadows and some of the marks on the sand were done with sheers.

Solitary Canoe

I actually had a good start on this and thought I'd get it done before the deadline...I always fool myself that way.  I decided that for this one, I would employ what Pamela Allen has been teaching in the online class I'm taking with her "Think Like and Artist" which has taken me a lot of thinking since her style and mine are so different.

For this challenge, I thought of doing a number of things, my daughter running and a couple of others, but decided that I wanted to do one of my niece's fiance.  I had hoped to do him fly fishing since I intend to do a series along that line, but she only had a picture of him launching his canoe in a river near Arden, North Carolina.

To do this one, I free-cut all the pieces, none of them were drawn ahead of time. I hope that this creates sort of an abstract, although I admit it isn't what I usually do when I abstract things...  The yellowish blob is actually iridescent lame (imagine the accent there, although I admit this does look a little lame) which caught the light badly for the photo...it actually just gives a shimmer to that part of the water. 

I don't think this is a particularly good composition.  I am hoping that when I put more thread painted leaves and limbs in the background and the water, then it will be more interesting, at least texturally.

I thought of cropping it to this, however I don't feel that it gives the feeling of solitude that the larger view does.  The extra water makes it look more....lonely in a way.

Any suggestions on improving this would be greatly appreciated.

Challenge 59 - Awaiting a Breeze

Better late than never.

Awaiting a breeze measures 6 x 9 inches.  The dandelion fluff is done with three layers of translucent fabrics.

Comments are always welcome.

Lisa
In Foggy Seattle

Solitude in a Border’s Time Vacuum

Solitude in a Border’s Time Vacuum

My quilt is about is about the closing of Borders Books and Music... am feeling a sense of loss of my favorite bookstore. The book label on the side is an actual borders rewards tag that invites the viewer to check out the Border's Reward card more closely. When placed with the barcode up, it depicts a ladder where one climbs into a world of wonderful books where one loses track of time . When placed with the rewards tab up, it now depicts a sense of loss as Borders Books no longer offers rewards and ceases to exist in time.

Meena

#59 Solitude: The Watcher

Challenge 59 - Solitude
"The Watcher" is a young brave seeking solitude in an aspen grove.  Perhaps he is on a Vision Quest, or perhaps just observing life around him.  He wants to see and not be seen.

Commercial fabrics were used for the trees and background.  The young brave was painted on Lutrador.

This is not yet quilted.  Quilting will follow the outlines of the trees. Size 14" x 14".  Comments welcome.

Celtic Knot

I created this Celtic knot and shamrock not only to fulfill the Challenge, but also for my friend who will be using this and other small quilts as a fundraiser rafffle for her projects as our American Legion Auxiliary 9th District President to raise money for our two Veteran's Hospitals in Omaha and Sioux Falls. It is machine appliqued and includes both hand stitching and machine quilting.  It's currently hanging at our Woodbury County Fair where it received a blue ribbon.

Cat in the Window

18 1/2" x 18 3/4"

When I thought of solitude, I thought of how a single cat sitting in a window will always center itself perfectly as if framed by the window and look perfectly at home there all by itself. The cat image came together rather quickly. What took more time in this piece was the brick wall edging, which I designed and pieced in strips.

I don't know if I got the representational abstract aspect down here, but I think the solitude aspect is there! It was a fun challenge -- thanks, Ann!

Critiques welcome.

Solitude: A Trumpeter Swan

Juvenile Trumpeter Swan 20" x 30"

I love the theme of this challenge. The solitude found in nature is one of my favorite themes. For this challenge I wanted to revisit the image of the juvenile Trumpeter Swan that visited our lake in September 2001. That was a difficult month for me, as it was for many Americans. To make it harder, I was living alone in what is now my studio while overseeing the building of our house. My husband would drive up north for the weekends but during the week I was alone. The visiting swan came when most of our resident waterfowl had already departed for migration. I would watch him from behind the bushes and when he seemed used to my presence I began to feed him every evening. Over the next couple of weeks I spent a lot of time in his company and I found some peace. I took several photo and a few years ago made a quilted portrait of this swan which sold at my show last summer. (The photo is on my website the 45 Degrees North Gallery)

This time I wanted to show the swan in the setting of the lake, in the early evening, and covey some of the peace that came in the solitude.


This piece measures 20" x 30" and is gallery wrapped. The background is a piece of batik that I thought looked like rippling water.


Thanks in advance for your comments.

Talleulah Finds Solitude on the Mountaintop

Talleulah is still on her quest for new adventures and this time has landed atop a very high mountain. Perched there she has found perfect solitude. My quilt is 18"x24" and is not yet quilted. The foreground mountain top is done collage-style with several batiks from a Hoffman jelly roll. I have uploaded a closeup on the Yahoo page.

Right Brain: Solitude

9" X 9"

Fused, minimally quilted

My solitude is a daily swim during which creative solutions emerge.

Great challenge

Late to the site, but completed on time

Thanks for your comments