Childhood

I remember living on my bicycle. I went everywhere on it and as fast as I could pedal besides. Needless to say, I had quite a few tumbles and scraped knees and elbows but never a broken bone. Every Saturday during the year and as many days as I could during the summer I would ride my bike to a small farm not far from where I lived in the city. There was my second love, horses! I spent time grooming them and often cleaning stalls just so I could ride them.

On this quilt, 9" x 12 1/2", I depicted a bicycle tire and horse prints to show my two childhood loves. I quilted in a random horizontal manner to attempt to show the speed I got on my bicycle and also the air blowing through my hair both on the bike and the horse.

Challenge 65 - Child Play/Childhood Memories

Fast Friday Fabric Challenge #65                           Due: 2/3/12

Child Play/Childhood Memories                             Host: Kathy Lichtendahl

Let's Play!

This month I am asking everyone to reach way back in their psyche to tap the memories of childhood. The idea is to create a piece of artwork that recalls your early days - to you at least - and possibly to the viewer as well. The subject can be something or someplace concrete that brings back memories of being a child or it can be a more abstract creation based on a recalled smell or sound or fleeting impression.

The finished piece may be depicted in a childlike manner or it may be channeled through the adult you that exists today. Try not to over think the process. The goal is to create a design based on a feeling of being a small person at that certain place and time in your life.

Many artists spend their entire careers trying to re-create the sense of wonder and newness experienced as a child. Some well known examples are the following:

Philip Guston

Pablo Picasso

Paul Klee (one of my personal favorites)

Joan Miro

Some artists well known for their childlike art that work in fiber:

Laurel Burch http://www.laurelburch.com/

Laura Wasilowski http://www.artfabrik.com/

Wendy Huhn http://www.wendyhuhn.com/

Have fun!

Kathy Lichtendahl 

Addendum by Cynthia:

 IQF is having a contest with prizes about quilts inspired by childhood memories...size is larger (at least 48" each side), no entry fee, online entry by June 8th.  The quilts will show at Houston, Cincinnati & Long Beach.  More info here: http://callforentriesfestivalgallery.com/

 If you are interested, you might consider using Kathy's challenge as a design study/mockup for a larger piece to enter in the contest....or make your piece for this challenge large and take more time.

Winter sunshine

I finished this piece made out of scraps. From my initial piece made while at my mothers, I needed to exchange a couple of pieces, but that was a heap of deconstruction to get there. My mental image was of sunshine through a window, with condensation running down. This is rather hard for me to think of, as it is high summer here right now!

Partly cloudy in the desert

It's partly cloudy in the desert. This is our second painting project in the online class taught by Annette Kennedy. We used Pebeo Setacolor transparent paints to enhance the appliqued mountains, plants and highway. I have learned a lot from this class and I've found I can add more depth to an art quilt by using paints to shade the shadows and to add highlights. Thanks for a great challenge. The weather in the desert is definitely dry in this piece, but there are a few clouds floating around in the sky.

Confused Weather

This winter our weather has been anything but normal. Normally we have cold, ice, snow, and more cold, but this year we are having spring-like weather with temps as high as 69 degrees. I tried an abstraction to show confused weather of warm winds and sun in a normally cold climate. I added a few beads to show occasional snow flakes that have fallen only to melt again when it warms. I used dyed gauze to depict the warming winds over a cold group of trees.

Leaves

This is a small piece, only 9"x9", and is mounted on black velvet. The quilt sits in a shadow box, but the glass does not photograph well at all, so I took it out just for the photo. I have been in a creative slump for the past few months and could literally create nothing, and I forced myself to get involved this month. After about five tries, this is what I settled on. Wind-blown leaves that echo the printed pattern beneath are quilted with a swirly motif. Thanks, Tobi, for a good challenge.
ANN

Blowing Snow

This is the first challenge piece I have finished in a looonnnggg time.... I have a number of started pieces hanging around, but finally got one done only a few days late!
"Blowing Snow" 7.5"x10"
Whether it has been rain or snow, lately there has always been wind.... I thought of trying out something with the rain since it seems like it wants to rain forever around here, but I got myself a die cutting machine a couple weeks ago and one of the dies that came with the kit I purchased was a snowflake. I have had a great time trying to see what I can do with a limited number of dies and I have even finished another little piece, too (not appropriate for this challenge). A couple weeks ago, we had the most perfect snowfall... the temperature was perfect to allow perfectly formed flakes to gently fall into a little layer where I could see the individual flakes. I even was able take a couple photos that caught their beauty with a macro lens. The photos along with the die cutting helped this piece to form. The snowflakes cut by the machine were pretty simple, so I cut out more from their centers... not very neatly, but it also gave me some more tiny flakes to use. I had the piece of salt patterned fabric in deep blue that I always think of falling snow when I see it, so it became the background. The flakes are stitched over with an iridescent white thread, along with free motion swirls and swooshes in the background. I also added to the movement with more swooshes and swirls in a variegated thread in shades of blues. The edges are bound with a wool blend yarn with a really fuzzy, hairy texture that I feel makes it look as if the snow is blowing right off the piece.

This is definitely no masterpiece, but considering I ended up doing next to no quilted pieces last year larger than a postcard, this has helped me with my struggle to crawl out of my deep hole of creative darkness... I pray that I will be able to keep on creating.... I really do need lots of art therapy :)

Sonoma Sunny Day

This quilt is acrylic ink painted on Mulberry paper, glued to muslin, sandwiched with an old wool blanket found in my daughters studio. I was visiting her in New Zealand and played with her toys.

It is my view (from Memory) from my window. I quilted it with variegated threads on the vegetation and various yarns and threads purchased in Wellington.

I love this challenge and VOW to do all this year.

Happy New Year