Thayer’s Tangled Trees

Abbott Thayer was an American painter lucky enough to live thru that period of time that produced so many great painters.  This of course is my opinion; someone else might think the mid 20th century produced some of the finest painters, but I keep going to those early 20th century paintings to drool over and think it would have been heaven to live amongst their creators.  Of course, I would probably have lived in Georgia on a dirt farm and would never have had the opportunity to hear of them much less meet them, but the works of (relatively obscure to the general public and those who have never studied art history) painters such as Dewing, Tarbell, Hassam, or Lilla Cabot Perry (women get the whole name typed out) to the works of more well known artists like Sargent and Chase, are among the most fabulous paintings ever.   Don’t tell the French, but I think they are every bit as marvelous as those Impressionists you hear so much about.

Anyway,Thayer did a series of beautiful angels that you may have actually seen before, but he also did a series with his son, Gerald Thayer, of wildlife  showing how camouflaged they are in their natural habitat.  Seems he even collaborated with the government to create camouflage for the army.

I chose a small portion of tangled tree limbs of Gerald’s painting, Male Ruffled Grouse in the Forest as inspiration for this piece of tangled thread stitching I finished yesterday.

If you are unfamiliar with the artists I mentioned above, take a few minutes and look up their works.  I am sure you will be as awed by them as I am.

An English Gatehouse

The last couple of weeks have been filled, just not with  much art.  I worked on a fiber piece (I don’t like the terms that are generally associated with this technique, wonder if I can coin a new phrase….) of a figure sitting in a chair.  I learned that you can excise a portion you do not like and patch it.  I learned that you do not wash out the stabilizer if you intend to  stitch on it more.  It spreads.  My figure’s arm grew to twice the size it originally was.  I was sad, I was liking that piece.  I guess this is to be expected if you are teaching yourself a new process.

There is something that jumps out at me when you google (when will Webster’s declare google a noun and verb?) thread painting.  It is that you should not try to copy a Vermeer in thread.  It just doesn’t work.

But, we try all things…

I tried architecture in thread.

Robin’s Nest

Growing up, I listened to many sermons in church on Sundays about perseverance.  Such a big word for little ears (okay, Karen and Donna, so my ears were never little) but when you pair it with the apostle Paul’s lesson on racing to the end the meaning is easily understood.  It has always been a word that catches my attention when it is said (and never fails to remind me of our beloved pastor,  Rev. L. Howard  Gordon).  Now that I am adult-ish, I realize how important perseverance is in all aspects of life.  Prayer is best answered with perseverance, exercise is only effective with perseverance,  relationships take tons of perseverance,  goals are met with perseverance and with a little perseverance you can correct and finish an a disappointing  piece of art.  The robin’s nest and eggs below were slow in coming together and I almost gave up.  I couldn’t get it right.  But, I cut away 1/3 of the image, I increased the size of the nest, I added leaves and twigs and I just kept adding thread.  I tried to put my painting lessons to use and actually used knowledge to fix it.  It is now pretty thick and stiff but I am pleased with the image.

I do wish you could see it in person, photos don’t do these thread pieces justice.

Hummingbird Repose

I watched the most beautiful Nature episode on PBS yesterday about Hummingbirds.    The show showed all kinds of hummingbirds captured  in the most wonderful photography.  It showed their wings in flight, their tail feathers spread, their ability to catch bugs in flight (did you know hummingbirds were carnivores?).  And it showed their nests.  Wonderful tiny creations the size of large walnuts and when the birds were perched in them, they look just the sweetest, most perfect  creature ever!

What a treasure it would be to find a hummingbird nest.  The show inspired me to create the thread art below.  This particular nest is only in South America (I think I am remembering correctly).  It was just about like you see it below, with bright green fibers intertwined to make a long (much longer than my piece shows) hanging nest.

I sketched my composition in colored pencil first and thought I would show you the beginning and the end.  This was a good way to repose myself this weekend while nursing bronchitis and an ear infection.   On the mend now and ready to sketch some more!  Lots more  hummingbird inspiration.  But then again, I am thinking I want to play with a Maxfield Parrish image.  I think that his color use would be perfect interpreted in thread!  Stay tuned…

Sunday Afternoon on the Orient Express

I am an addict.  To mysteries anyway.  Some of my happiest moments are when there is a new mystery on Masterpiece Mystery Theater (or whatever they call it since they combined the two) on PBS.  The Masterpiece part is okay but the mysteries are great!  They have recently aired some new Hercule Poirot movies.  The older ones are less dark then the recent ones but the cinematography is beautiful in both.

A couple of weeks ago Murder On The Orient Express was aired.  I found an image toward the end of the show that I really wanted to recreate.  Knowing full well that no claim can be made on my part to this composition or color or idea, I really did it to see if I could and I am showing it to you because it is the first image in a long time I wanted to show anyone!!!  I wanted to recreate the haunting-ness of the image and I think I have managed.  Makes me think of Seraut’s Sunday Afternoon on the… with the high contrast and silhouetted figures.   Of course, the similarity ends there… or do you think thread stitches count as (1/8th inch long) point(s)illism?

Off to create a totally original piece.  Although I am not sure that is really possible.  Seems all ideas are spawned from something else.

One potato…

I am pleased to say that I have actually had a couple of people ask what have I been doing lately so I thought I would post something.  Anything.

This little towhee is in colored pencil and is about 4″ long.

This bigger towhee is done in fabrics and is about 12″ long.

I created it with the idea of placing it in an art quilt.  I struggle with the background.  I have already ruled out two efforts.  I like the bird enough to try to get it right.  I placed it on a simple, colorless background and realized it needed more vibrancy.  I placed it on a tree and realized that  makes it look too traditionally picturesque.  I hope it will find a home in my next placement.

I am very much inspired by the art of Annemieke Mein.  I ordered her book thru Amazon and have been devouring it since its arrival.  I am very impressed by the large scale of her work and also the amount of research she puts into a piece.  It is amazing work.

Another artist whose talent is enviable is Karin Franzen.  Worth a trip to her site.

But, this is what I have really been doing.  Watching a potato sprout.  I haven’t had the heart to throw it away.  Looks like an evolving creature from the black lagoon.  Showing my true self now…..

IF is Double this week.  Think a duplicated image fits???

Finished Quilts

Finally, I get to show off the two “t” shirt quilts I made for Peggy, who commissioned them for her granddaughter, Mary Margaret and her neice, Sydney.  Peggy saved her “t” shirts   from Camp Juliette Low and I converted them into these!  I used all my favorite fabric bits and pieces.  I think they turned out beautiful if I do say so myself.

lessons learned

Below, you will see a failed attempt.  But all is not lost because I learned some things from the experience.

I can be manipulative.  With fabric that is.  I quilted a cutting from Ken’s shirt (thanks, Hon) and, after washing it so that it puckered, painted on it with fabric paints and even tried some dye mixes.  I have a lot more to learn about this, but the idea is exciting to me.

I can look at something and decide it doesn’t work, in this case the purple did not work with the blue background.  I added a lot of blue thread to the mix and it helped.  I like the fact that art isn’t all just a natural ability.  You can analyze and determine what a piece needs and fix it.  Erasers are allowed.

I can hand embroider easier thru layers of quilted fabric than I can thru stabilizer on the back of machine embroidery.  So, I should get rid of the stabilizer and thicken my fabrics.  I like doing handwork.  It’s a whole lot easier to hear the tv with hand work than with machine work.

I like the horizon effect.  I am going to incorporate that more.

So, the piece doesn’t work.  Big deal when I have learned so much.BTW , I was calling this piece “Outstanding in Her Field”.  I am trying to think of titles, not always so easy.

this was my week…

I’ve been a little lazy in posting lately.  I haven’t been lazy in working though.  Seems like this week has been busier than ever and I am just plum’ wore out!  All I want to do is lay in the hammock and read. Alas, it is raining so I sit in front of the computer and look.

What am I looking at?  Art!  Lots and lots of art!  I am thrilled to be able to easily see what artists from who knows where are creating.  Fiber art is holding my interest this week (who knows what I will be fascinated by next week!).  I have found a couple of links that showcase different artists…

The Studio Art Quilt Associates and Fiber Artists Collective

I am inspired by both!

In my idle time this week I have found two real bird nests in my yard, one in the fern making it difficult to water…

and another one high in a shrub that I can only see from below.

I created a bird to go with my stuffed eggs (from an earlier post).  I painted it, then “un” painted it.  Now I have a dilemma as to what to do with it.  It may remain whitewashed as has a papier mache overly ripe woman from a couple of years ago.  If you have an idea….

And then I am working on a “generations” something or other.  Maybe an art quilt, maybe a painting or mixed media piece, maybe even a tapestry (that would be ambitious).  Here is my start with sketching.  These are women from the past in my family.

And last, a cute little yellow bird that may become thread art to match the other cute little birds in thread.  This study is colored pencil on rough paper.

Going back to the women in the sketch…

Seems as if many people don’t understand why old photographs have such dismal, unhappy people in them.  I don’t really know the technical reasons or if they were told not to smile but I do know that exposure time was longer and holding a smile is difficult.  A portrait with a smile on the face of the person is a portrait done from a photograph.  It is simply difficult to hold a smile for any length of time.  Unless you are a professional beauty contestant.

These ladies look unhappy, but as I was studying them, I felt such a closeness to them, wondering about them, if they were unhappy or just tired with their tight lips (the woman on the left has a tiny infant in her arms).  I decided they were a very happy family even without smiles.  The older woman  even has a small nosegay in her hands.

The older couple on the right are Thomas Marr and Elizabeth Welch, my great great grandparents, photographed in 1908.

Stopped raining… off to read while the light is good.

lots and lots of thread later…

Time passes too quickly these days.  All of a sudden winter has become summer (springs are sometimes too short here) and the trees, which were devoid of all leaves last week at this time, are fully leafed (is that a word?).

I have been working on a small art quilt that I am going to enter into a contest to win a new Bernina sewing machine.  I will be shocked to win (and extremely happy) but am doing it for the challenge.  You need to represent the image given and this one happens to be a swan on her nest in colors I don’t find very appealing.  The point is to use as much visible machine stitching as possible.  If  this don’  count, I dunna wha’ does!

Lessons learned on this piece:

• Don’t expect white thread to fully cover dark fabric.

• Don’t free hand cut the fabric and expect it to appear straight.  I didn’t want the inner rectangle to read as a straight edge parallel to the top edge, but it is too close to being square that it makes it look off (as in a mistake)

The feathers are stitched on water soluble stablizer and then stitched onto the quilt for a little 3 dimensional effect.  I liked this and want to try it some more.

As I critique this myself, I see where improvements can be made.  Back to the sewing machine.

On top of a little work work (vs. play work), Easter, family, cooking and cleaning (to be honest, not much of that going on) this is how my week has passed.  Way too quickly.

Here is the link to the contest, just in case you want to enter.