Lavender Clouds – a Study of Texture in a Small Space

There is a lot of texture packed into this small, embellished art quilt, “Lavender Clouds”. While diminutive in size (9.25″ sq or 23.5cm sq), it’s filled with buttons and beads intended to draw the viewer’s attention down into the scene and interact with it. Many of my fans say that they could look forever at one of my larger pieces and see new things for hours, so I’d like to think that this work would allow you to “feel with your eyes” and not get overwhelmed with all of the details., yet still feel full of visual stimulation and excitement over the use of materials.

The piece began in a workshop to learn about how to use Stewart Gill fabric paints… http://www.stewartgill.com/ . The session was offered at Artistic Artifacts in Alexandria, VA http://www.artisticartifacts.com/ . (It’s one of the coolest stores for mixed media supplies and ephemera and a must see if you’re in the Washington, DC area.) These particular paints are rather expensive but are intense on the fabric unlike many of the dull, flat effects I’ve experienced with other brands of textile paints. We were to bring 10″ (25cm.5 cm) squares on which to try out different types of the paints and after a fun-filled afternoon of playing with paints, stencils, and stamping, I had a number of small decorated fabric squares with which to begin some small art quilts.

“Lavender Clouds” is the second to be finished. (The first was “Breathe, Just Breathe” – posted on 23 November, 2011) I did a little machine embroidery on this piece, but mostly placed the buttons and beads in response to the painted motifs. In the middle of the far left in this detail shot, you can see my signature hummingbird button that I include on all of my pieces now… http://www.fiberfantasies.com/artist2.php (more info about this button in my “Artist’s Statement on my web site.) Beneath it is one of my beloved glass buttons that are coming out of Czechoslovakia. The shiny dichroic foil in the interior of the button adds a lot of “pow” to the surface, and people always seem to respond positively to these buttons. In the upper middle of this same shot, you can see some of the plastic “bubble” buttons that I used to convey the impression of “clouds”. I also added a lot of white, pearlescent seed beads and clear, plastic bubble beads to give a frothy appearance. There are also a number of round aqua “miracle beads”, whose depth of shine, while flat in this photo, is sparkling in the actual piece.

As with all quilts, whether they’re intended as art or for the bed, the edges usually are treated somehow to prevent unraveling. The usual method is to use a binding, but with these small pieces, I often go around the edges using a blanket stitch worked in embroidery floss. If you look back at the top photo, you can see that I also encircled the edge with the same style of white, yellow, and aqua buttons. I find that oftentimes, repeating the same design element unifies the composition. There are also two other kinds of beads that are worked in between the blanket stitches to give interest to what would otherwise be an interesting area, the edge of the quilt.

I just counted, and there are 77 buttons on the surface of this piece. (I would never attempt to count all of those on one of my larger pieces.) That’s not including the beads and paint. I put quite a lot of effort into each and every piece, no matter the size, so I hope that you enjoy hearing about the thought process for this piece and can maybe see my work in a different light.

Why not leave a comment as to your thoughts on this piece. The registration form is just to prevent spammers, not to collect any of your information.

You can see more of my art work on my web site at www.fiberfantasies.com .

To find out how to buy my artwork, please check “How to Buy my Art Work” in the “Pages” section to the right of this blog.

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