The beginnings of a new series. The pivotal fabrics are from my design in Andover fabric’s Urban Texture collection. I know it is sold out because I bought the last 2 bolts in December. If you might want some of it, send me an email. I have it available in Wilde Thistle Gallery.
I am thinking of calling the series The Colors of the Ozarks.
This is a re- post since I wanted to introduce you to a new group that has come together from the QuiltArt List. We will do a challenge every 2 months. Here’s the address if you want to keep up with what we are doing. http://challengeplaygrop.wordpress.com/ (Yes, it is misspelled, my doing I’m afraid.) My post is the first but others should start showing up in the next week,
Jeannie Sredl came up with our theme for the first challenge of “Off To The Races”. That could be interpreted many ways by the diverse group of artists in this group. I think this quote says it all and should be the mantra of this new group.
The Race was on, the souls of the racers were in it. ~~ Lew Wallace, Ben Hur
Here is my offering in A4 size and a little about it. I wanted to challenge myself to use the mountains of hand dyed fabrics and threads I’ve been making. I started with only the fabrics in mind and no particular composition. That’s the way I work most of the time. I tell people I am seduced by the cloth as I let it morph into what it wants to be when it grows up.
I cut and pin, stitch, look at, stitch some more. When it starts taking on a shape I can see the meaning and how it relates to a theme I’m working from. The quote on the piece is from Aditya Chandra:
Life is one race I never want to win, I’d rather stroll around enjoying the scenery.
Here it is, I hope you enjoy my scenery.
It has been a long time coming for any artwork being done. I just finished this piece and wanted to share it with you. The name is “Emergence” for a few reasons, the most important for me is that it signals my emergence from a long block and it symbolizes the sprouting of a new life for me from the tangled seed of my past.
This piece measures 9 x 6 1/2 inches. It is tiny compared to most of my work, but that too is symbolic since we all have to start with tiny steps before we flourish.
The shape came from a piece of rusted fabric. The amoebic form was highlighted with Inktense pencils. The crochet center was stitched down and accented with embroidery which was also highlighted with Inktense. I have no idea how many little seed beads are stitched down but I like to think they are all the ideas swirling in my head that have been set free. The long outside perimeter stitches use some of my hand dyed floss. Hope you like it!
JP Dawes Contemporary Artist 