Fast Start ... Slow Finish

Finally completed my series "Forces of Nature" for the Voyage 2015 Abstracted Nature theme. I had the first three completed by March 2015. But after a move to another state, this final one which was already started was nowhere to be found! Finally it showed up when searching for something else and I was able to finish my original vision for this piece.

For this piece I chose several circular motifs from my won surfaced designed stash. Some are stamped, some are resists and some are sunprinted. I felt they provided the continuity of the circular motion of the hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico. As a native Texan...this is not a stretch for a concept in this series! The "land" fabric is a pounded fabric which I felt had the beautiful look of a topographic map.

The hurricanes are unstoppable and often seem to have a mind of their own. Just when we think we know
the direction they will take and where landfall will be...it can change and head along a totally different path. Sometimes that is for the better but other times that change can cause widespread destruction. This lack of predictability is why I chose the title "Winds of Change"

WINDS  OF  CHANGE

Now to take a deep breath and start on 2016 Voyage!

Blister beetles

Nature Abstracted - Blister beetles

I looked online for insects because I wanted to play with a consistent shape that could be abstracted in many ways. Finding blister beetles in many different colours and shapes I decided to make my own.

In the apps ArtRage and MyBrushesPro, on my IPad, I played with colour and shape using only my finger and the many tools to draw. I drew about 20 different drawings and had 8 of them digitally transferred to silk charmeuse. Out of those I selected these four:

Blister beetle  I - In the Kitchen

Blister beetle  II -Fuzzy

Blister beetle III - Furry

Blister beetle IV -Kidlets

I stabilized the silk with Lightweight fusible Pellon, including my orange printed silk for the binding/facings.

I quilted it on my Pfaff Power 16 which is mounted on a movable track, using Hobbs cotton/wool batting.

The back is cotton, thread is Polyester.

I’m having so much fun with these beetles I see many beetles in my future!

Betty

VOYAGE ART TEXTILES

2015

ABSTRACT NATURE

'MONSTERA DELICIOSA'

1-4

A POLPTYCH

I have a lush tropical garden with banana, guava and avocado trees and a large variety of plants. Many are of South American origin with exotic leaf and flower shapes. I particularly love the huge Monstera Deliciosa leaves.They inspired me to create a polyptych that conveys the large size of the leaf. Each quilt is made individually using black, white and primary coloured fabrics. I used fused applique, free motion machine embroidery and quilting using rayon threads. Each piece was highlighted with acrylic paint.

 

Hand stitching

Over in California without  machine - so I am catching up with some hand stitching I am doing with a local stitch group for an exhibition. I am using some small pieces of rust dye fabrics that I produced years ago when 'rusting' was all the rage - never used them for anything so I am now using small pieces as backgrounds. 

Different activators were used to produce the rust from lemon juice to green tea! The unpredictable effects make the pieces ideal for hand stitching

Just started stitching on a couple of the pieces below - ideal little project to have with me whilst we are travelling around, tacked them loosely to a muslin backing first before deciding how to stitch.

Jean

Hope

Hope

Based on a dry river bed... They say  the first living thing to grown is often a fern... Hence the fern leaf for hope. Hope that the rains will come and soon. The quilting is almost like a soft mist floating over the river bed in the early mornings... Hopeful that rain might come.

Arum

Arum

Took a photo of a single arum Lilly and surrounding leaves, pasted it into Coral Draw and wrapped it. Hand dyed fabric . Machine quilted.

Deconstructed flowers

Deconstructed flowers. Inspired by an article on deconstructing an apple pie and some flowers caught my eye in the background.... So thought I would deconstruct some daisies. !!! Used handled fabric through out, and raw edged appliqué by machine. Quilted and embroidered by machine.

Ripples

Ripples

Inspired by the ripples on the water. Reverse appliqué by hand using commercial cotton. Machine quilted.