Full View – Sky Map
Once in awhile, I get to see pieces that I sold before I knew much about photography and so didn’t have a record of the piece. That’s the case with a recent re-connection with Dr. Lisa Gordon, who introduced me to a whole new world of healing. This beaded art quilt that she bought was actually visionary art, as it’s based on a dream that I had while visiting Sweden. In the summer, Stockholm only has about 3 hours of darkness.I awoke at 3 am, looked out the window at the sparkling harbor, and then went back to sleep.
I’m fortunate that I have vivid dreams in color, and in this dream, the sky was faceted with sparkling mirrors and lines. The quality of the light that far north is much more silvery than what I’m used to here in the Mid-Atlantic of the States where light is more golden. I immediately jumped up and made a very rough sketch of the image that I had seen, which wasn’t really necessary. as I can still see what I saw that night as vividly as it was way back then.
Detail (1) of Sky Map
This first detail shot shows some of the rich diverse materials I used in the making of this art quilt. There’s a large shi-sha mirror bordered in gold near the middle of the pic. On top of it as a star piece that I baked from friendly plastic. While the gold edges were still warm, I pressed a glass cabochon into the middle to make another shiny effect. There is a metal button that is criss-crossed with lines below the shi-sha mirror, and to the right of that is a bent waffle looking shape that I have no idea where I found it, but I wish that I had more of them. Finally, there is gold mesh stitched flat on the background to repeat the images of crossing lines that catch stars.
Detail (2) of Sky Map
In this next shot, you can see a swirled iron-on applique. Perhaps that could be a new galaxy forming out there in space? While iron-on appliques always have a glue on the back that is supposed to be heat set when ironed, I’ve scorched some, and had some fall off. Therefore, I always sew them on to make sure they’ll stay, even though it’s hard to stitch through the glue. In the middle right is a silvery leaf earring, whose outward swirls suggested to me that energy could be emanating from a central force. Scattered throughout are flat rondelles with a finish that’s know as aurora borealis. While the beads are still being made, I can’t find them with the shiny AB finish anymore. Bead manufacturers bring out new lines and stop making some, usually the ones that I really like.
Detail (3) of Sky Map
In the center of this shot is another gold colored iron-on applique. This one however, is in a square with the lines that circle round and round filled in with background material. However, in contrast, just beneath it, is another of those bent waffle forms made out of gold colored metal. (I love to repeat patterns in different ways across the surface of one of my art quilts). In the middle left is a “spider” looking pin, which I intended to be a starburst. To fasten it to the surface there’s a glass bead that I sewed in the middle to be a stopper to keep that swirled pin fastened down.
This piece was created in 1997, and the owner bought it before it right after it was finished, so I hadn’t seen it in quite awhile. I was surprised at how big it was (41.5″T x 39″W or 105.5 cm T x 99 cm W), as the pieces that I’m doing these days are much smaller and manageable. (Those things get heavy once you start adding on all of those buttons and beads!) I was pleased to get a chance to photograph it for my records, as it was one of my favorites and can still remember the night when the sky was faceted with lines and mirrors of light.
Do you have a favorite dream that you’ve translated into a piece of art? What was it like creating that art and do you feel that the piece turned out?
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