Mary Kay Baum is my cousin who takes beautiful nature photography in her spare time. She has led and is leading an interesting full life. Click on her name to see some of her photos and to see what her real passion is along with her two younger sisters.
One of her photos inspired me to do a series of artworks. I had this photograph in my studio for awhile, not knowing what to do with it. In October 2011 I took a class with Sue Benner, a well known, highly respected mixed meda artist. In this class we brought photos that inspired us, that we wanted to do something with. I chose the Cedar Swamp photo by Mary Kay. In Sue's class I learned more on creating abstracts from nature. I have taken other classes in the past from other talented women on abstraction (Yvonne Porcella and Cynthia Corbin), but sometimes you get stuck and need a refresher.
There are four small studies, of which I only show 2 here, the other 2 are unworthy of completion (in my opinion). #1 is shown above.
Cedar Swamp #2 is similar to #1, duh. That was obvious. You can see the tree in the mid-ground and the foreground are also rust dyed with tannin which gives it the beautiful greys. Both of these pieces are heavily quilted, which you can't see in these photos.
Then, on to #4 which is the largest to date. This piece contains more of the same fabrics. You can see in the first view the process used for all of the series was to fuse the fabric pieces down to the batting until I was satisfied with the composition.
It doesn't look like much at this point, other than the dark of the sky at the very top and the rock type shapes at the bottom as the foreground. In the mid-range I imagined the horizon. I worked on the tabletop surface, pressing to fuse at this point.
This is the overlay of trees using several discharge dyed fabrics along with some of the rust dyed.
 |
| Cedar Swamp #1 (7" mounted on 10" wood block) |
Mary Kay Baum is my cousin who takes beautiful nature photography in her spare time. She has led and is leading an interesting full life. Click on her name to see some of her photos and to see what her real passion is along with her two younger sisters.
One of her photos inspired me to do a series of artworks. I had this photograph in my studio for awhile, not knowing what to do with it. In October 2011 I took a class with Sue Benner, a well known, highly respected mixed meda artist. In this class we brought photos that inspired us, that we wanted to do something with. I chose the Cedar Swamp photo by Mary Kay. In Sue's class I learned more on creating abstracts from nature. I have taken other classes in the past from other talented women on abstraction (Yvonne Porcella and Cynthia Corbin), but sometimes you get stuck and need a refresher.
There are four small studies, of which I only show 2 here, the other 2 are unworthy of completion (in my opinion). #1 is shown above.
Starting out small I made 4 small abstract versions about 7 inches square. Some of my favorite fabrics are the rust dyed and in silk dyed with black walnuts. When I dyed this silk fabric it really didn't take the walnut coloring, but sitting in the dye pot for about a week it developed mold on the fabric . Luckily for me I loved the look of the mold blotches and it stayed in the fabric when I washed it. This is used in the sky and the foreground.
 |
| Cedar Swamp #2 (7" mounted on 10" wood block) |
Cedar Swamp #2 is similar to #1, duh. That was obvious. You can see the tree in the mid-ground and the foreground are also rust dyed with tannin which gives it the beautiful greys. Both of these pieces are heavily quilted, which you can't see in these photos.
 |
| Cedar Swamp #3 11"w x 14" h (unmounted) |
Cedar Swamp #3 was fragmented and reassembled. Although it hardly looks like the others, I like it and I think that's all that matters. This one has some velveteen that has discharge markings as well as more of the rust-dyed fabric and other miscellany.
*****Then, on to #4 which is the largest to date. This piece contains more of the same fabrics. You can see in the first view the process used for all of the series was to fuse the fabric pieces down to the batting until I was satisfied with the composition.
 |
Cedar Swam #4. Finished size is 22"w x 31"h, unmounted.
|
All pieces are heavily stitched and bound with a facing. This is #4 completed. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions. Thank you for taking the time to read my blog.
1 comment:
This quilt really great, i love:)))
Post a Comment