December has been a frustrating month. I’ve suffered a couple of injuries that were relatively minor but their nature has kept me away from the studio. And during October and November I was concentrating on making items for the holiday gift bazaars at the local art centers. So even though I am back in the studio I am feeling pretty rusty.
My first though was to tackle something I have been calling “Abstract 8.” Its been on my design wall in many configurations since last March (!) and I’ve never been satisfied with it.
Abstract 8 March 2012
Abstract 8 December 2012
I think this is an improvement but I still feel the need to let it sit on the design wall for a while.
Coincidentally last spring I took dozens of photos of Marsh Marigolds. They bloom in the wetlands in April are the first significant splash color in the early spring.
I came up with a sketch:
And then pulled some fabrics–the red is for the red twig dogwood that grows in with them:
And started sewing some insertion blocks to be the weedy background:
background with leaf shapes
So I hope to be adding to my wildflower series with this piece and think about the direction I want to take in 2013. I’m a bit conflicted between the nature inspired pieces and the newer non-objective abstractions. I will probably follow both paths for a while and see where they take me. It would be nice if they converged somewhere.
Lovely photo inspiration, Kathie — and I like the way you combine a bit of abstraction in your nature pieces; I hope this will be a happy combination of the two approaches.
And I look at the top photo and think, ‘tree trunks…embroidered grasses…sloppy French knot flowers…’ (grin)
love the wildflower piece. abstract — perhaps it’s feeling a bit closed in with all the pale around the vibrant?