Thursday, January 14, 2010

To Art or Not to Art, Part II Raffle

Spent the last several days deciding what is to be done with my now painted flour resist batiks.  After printing the images on organza and deciding that was not going to work, thought I would start with what I called the 'Ugly' before.  Actually, that piece was really not part of the resist process - merely a piece of muslin I threw on the remaining acrylic on my palette!  So I guess you would call it a mono print. Therefore I felt confident to experiment and toss it if I wanted to. Well, the more time I spent on it the less inclined I was to call it a complete disaster! 
You can see 'Ugly' in a previous post where I first laid in some color. At that point I could see trees in the background and maybe a lake and I printed some trees to play with that idea. Nothing worked until I found in my napkin stash some orange colored grapes and I used matte gel medium and glued it onto the muslin.  Hey, that was fun and now I was on a mission to make something out of it. I drew and painted the bird on a piece of the napkin and threw that in the background. Seemed to need something to bring you into the scene, so drew and painted a big butterfly on deli paper and put him in front.  Here is a close-up of the first lay down.


From the beginning, I knew I wanted to try some free-motion stitching on this and decided it would become a mini-quilt.  Had some fusible fleece, grabbed that and fired up my new Viking Emerald 183. There were some big frustrations; I broke 3 needles and did a lot of cussing, but after a while I was having great fun.


I used a purple rayon thread in the background to make that area recede and all the rest a yellow cotton thread. The Ugly Duckling has not exactly became a Swan, but had fun trying!  But now I am stuck on the finishing and am hoping I can get your comments on where to go from here.



These are two ideas for finishing and I apologize for the bad photography.  Another thought I had was to blanket stitch the edges adding either beads and yarn or both.  What do you think?  I will set this aside until next Friday to finish.  Anyone who posts a suggestion or comment will be in a drawing to receive the completed piece! It is 9 3/4 X 11 before I add the binding and it will be ready to hang. To do so, click on the word comments (it will underline when you point to it) just below this post and the form will come up.

12 comments:

One Creative Queen said...

Hi Corliss - Ok, one...you drew and painted the bird AND butterfly? You go with your bad self! Those are awesome!
Two...I'm not quite sure where you got "Ugly" from - I don't see that at all. I do, however, really like how you free-motion embroidered the piece. It really adds depth and dimension. Very cool!
Three...the napkins were a great idea. They "make" the piece. I never would have thought to add napkins - glad to know it worked!
And finally...I'm a goon for fibers, beads, embellishments - anything that brings texture and dimension to a piece. (Which is why I love how you embroidered it.) Have you considered adding some fun fiber - like eyelash, some other funky fiber I don't know the name of - around the edges, maybe sewing a few beads/other embellishments on while doing it? It would be fun to see some free, wild fibers on the edges...but that's just my opinion.

I really like what you've done - and now need to go further explore your blog! xx

julzabro said...

OOOOooooo! I luv the colors! And as far as the choices for backgrounds...the orange brings out the oranges and darker colors while the other one kinda looked like rocks at first and kinda brings out the lighter colors as well as emulating the grapes....hmmmm? I guess the orange is best but maybe add something to lighten it up so it doesn't shrink the view....which maybe was the idea behind the zigzag ribbon...?.... but I think a more natural or less geometric transition between the art itself and the orange would be kewel. Did that make ANY sense at all?? Anyhoo...I WANT IT!!!!!

Technical Bohemian said...

It's a lovely piece, Corliss, and it has a lot of airiness to it. Why box it in with a border? I would back it with a piece of colorwashed muslin, with colors similar to the background already in the piece, only more subtle and faded. I'd also let a few of the elements from the main quilt wander onto the backing fabric - a couple of the grapes, a tiny butterfly and maybe complete the green leaf in the lower left hand corner, just to give it an added sense of airiness. Beautiful work. I enjoy your blog. I also appreciate your two furry helpers - I have three of my own. Have a great day.

Sheila

Georgayne said...

Hey Corliss-
Beautiful work. I agree with Sheila in many ways. It has a nice flow to the piece that a traditional binding would stop. I am also a sucker for fiber and beads but would want to coordinte a bit. Maybe a variegated ribbon( picking up your primary colors) done in outline stitch, attaching maybe a few leaf shaped, color coordinated beads;a couple of grape-like clusters and a butterfly charm or two. This sounds like a marriage between "One Creative Queen" and Sheila. Beautiful kitties...I have a silver tabby male and a "snowshoe Sia-Tabbymese" that think they have a creative streak.

Georgayne

Mary Lynn said...

This is looking great! I can see it with beads added to the edges, and maybe some througgout the whole thing. I love that you just went for it, and collaged and then sewed on it, and I bet it did break the needles!

Kathy D. Keith said...

So very nice! And nice to read about how you did it. I recommend against the rick-rack - it competes for attention being so bold. Maybe a darker fabric in a smaller print for a border. And I like the idea others have of adding some beads - very small ones - could be on the art and on the border - even some lines or scattering of beads that spill over onto the border.

Debra McWilliam said...

Corliss--I saw your post on inkjet_transfers. Your quilt is lovely. Not being an experienced quilter, I cannot think of any suggestions to add to those of the other commenters. I can't wait to see your finished product with the border added!
Debra
P.S. I love your mosaic wall!

Anonymous said...

I agree the rick rack is out but I would like to suggest a solid color that picks up the subtle colors in the print eg. say a mauve but not the orange/gold solid color you displayed.
P. Spedler

Anonymous said...

This piece is GREAT! It has a Monet dreamyness to it. The colors are so soft and natural. And I love the subject. I can't make any suggestions on your beautiful piece of art. If I did it would't be YOU.
GREAT WORK!!!!!
Joyce
artjj2005@yahoo.com

Unknown said...

I really like these. I'm not so sure I like the rickrack....it's a little distracting. I do like the concept of framing them though and maybe a different binding would be better...that is, do a traditional binding but with a less distracting color/form....something which sends your eye inward, not outward.

Of course, doing a faced binding might be good on the rick-racked one too!

Rosie said...

Hi Corliss, I love what you've done. I don't like the rocrac either, beads and fibres in a couple of colours would be cool - maybe contrasting or coordinating... Have you ever considered a frayed edge? Or a more rustic look, perhaps using burlap and fraying the edge?

Anonymous said...

Hi Corliss! I would suggest a darker purple border and then embelish that with some more sublte beading for accent. The piece is beautiful and so colorful that I would not distract it with a busy border! But you are the artist and have a GREAT eye!!
Miss you neighbor, Linda Jacques