“Gardens of Yellow and Butterflies” Continues On….

Detail of an art quilt in progress, "Gardens of Yellow and Butterflies"I find great comfort in my art work, especially when I’m beset by the throes of life. I’ve been helping to clean up my mother’s house a 10 hour drive away since her stroke in April of this year. My computer was attacked by Trojan viruses this past weekend (not to worry, they’ve been cleaned up.) It’s really hot outside now here in Maryland in the US, and there are weeds outside that are threatening to devour my carefully laid out gardens that had so much promise in the Spring. Yet, inside, in the air conditioning, I can steal away some moments to continue on creating my art work. My art quilts I do have control over, or so they let me think. It’s slipping into the zen of sewing on all of those buttons and beads that brings me peace.

The piece, “Gardens of Yellow and Butterflies” continues on. In this update piece, in the shot above, you can see that the beading continues. I’m especially pleased with how the flowers scattered around and the large green leaves in the middle of the photo turned out. Sometimes, I really, really like what I’ve done. The buckling in the yellow striped fabric in the background is one of the problems with having large areas of fabric on an intensely beaded art quilt. The bumps and ridges that appear so unsightly right now will be smoothed out as they become beaded, too as the piece is finished. However, putting up with their annoying appearance as I work on other areas can be disconcerting.

Detail of an art quilt in progress, "Gardens of Yellow and Butterflies"In this detail shot, there are many more areas that have been covered with beading, so the buckling has been covered up and evened out. I’m especially pleased with the purple beads (size 8 seed beads) that I added on the vertical purple and black ribbons seen on the left and far right of this shot. The purple ribbon has black, flocked areas that make for the raised petals of the flowers that run the length of the material. While it probably would have been fine to have left it the way that it was, I hate to see that much expanse not be embellished, so the purple beads were added. There’s some of the original ribbon not covered, so upon closer examination, you can see it. Since it’s practically impossible to get beads to match the fabric exactly, you can get a much richer fabric with the two colors of purple, one of the beads, and another, of the ribbon.

Detail of an art quilt in progress, "Gardens of Yellow and Butterflies"Here’s another detail shot that is also heavily beaded. The large white mother of pearl button from the 50s (upper right) inlaid with black mother of pearl (MOP in the trade), makes a bold statement that balances out the black and white harlequin striped ribbons in the piece. I had just enough flat hematite colored rondelles to put in the middle of some of the black diamonds on the ribbons to add another textural element. Red seed beads attached the rondelles and were also used at the intersections of the diamonds on the ribbons to add a subtle detail and to play off the nearby red beads in the background. I love using snippets of one color to balance out and pull your eye to another place where they’re used on the surface of the art quilt.Even the large glass gold pansy button at the top of the black and white ribbon on the right is painted black on the backside so that the petals will stand out as being separate. That subtle use of the color black in that button plays off of the ribbons, the black in the purple ribbon, and the black and white metal butterfly, whose upper half can be sen in the bottom middle of the photo immediately above and even more, in the middle photo.

It’s the fun of rooting through my stash of buttons and beads to find the perfect ones to play off of each other, and creating a composition out of “controlled chaos” that is great, good fun for me. Since I don’t know exactly how the finished piece will turn out until it’s done, the anticipation keeps me going. That excitement makes up for the long hours, stuck fingers, and blurry eyes as the night gets late… or at least so far.

What delights you the most in your own art medium? Is it finding the materials, designing the image, or is it knowing that the last stitch is almost there that keeps you going on into the night.

Why not leave a comment as to your thoughts on this posting. Please take a minute, fill out the form by clicking on the “comments/no comments link” at the top of the posting, and then share your ideas with the rest of us. We all grow when we share our thoughts and impressions, so why not join our growing community of those who appreciate art quilts and textile arts. We’d love to hear from you!

You can see more of my art work on my web site at www.fiberfantasies.com and can find me on Google + , Facebook,  and Twitter.

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