Sunday 27 May 2012

Stone wall with Lichen

I finished a piece of mixed media textile art today. As this is a mouthful, I am going to call my works Teeny Tiny Textile Art.
Here it is:



This piece started from this macro picture:


I decided to create a piece with just a few stones. I used some small pieces of felt in five shades of grey. I padded each 'stone' with a little wadding. I decided to add 'mortar' to my stones. To create this I used space dyed floss in shades of grey with hints of green. I sewed a rough satin stitch to join the pieces, stitching in different directions to add texture and interest. To create the lichen effect I needle felted with greeny grey uncarded felting wool, highlighted with a vivid yellowy green merino wool tops. I do not have any mustardy coloured wool tops yet so used artistic licence. When I had finished the stitching I felt the piece needed 'lifting'. I added some very small beads to the 'lichen' choosing some which matched the colour of the wool and some clear beads which I added to some of the 'stones'. I wanted to give the effect of water droplets and I am very pleased with the result.

Detail of felting and beads.




 Further detail of stitching.


This piece has taken quite a long time to finish as it has quite a few elements in it. It has been a satisfying experience however.
I shall probably make my next picture one of the flower/leaf/seedhead macros I have taken.
I would really appreciate some comments on this piece.



Monday 7 May 2012

100 Word Challenge for Grown Ups #41

Another week and another challenge from Julia
and this is our prompt...



As dry as a...

With a faint click, the last piece was placed on the work. Work, no, wrong word. Labour of love maybe...   This toil would be missed, the concentration, the planning, the execution.
He remembered when the pieces had seen the light for the first time in millennia. The breathtaking anticipation as brush and trowel revealed the almost unimaginable. His hands shook with the memory. His breath caught once more.
Now, he looked again at his gloriously created cairn of bones. How fitting, how marvellous, that these distant creature’s remains should stand in mute celebration of their lives.
He tiptoed silently away...