"Persistence" close to done, and a new project

 

I am close to finishing "Persistence," the large piece (about 55x90") that originated in my experience of the neolithic standing stones in the alignments of Carnac. Thousands of stitches have been put into the cloth, which was colored with earth pigments. I'm still finalizing plans on how to hang the piece. I didn't want to finish the edges with any of the bindings typical of a quilt, and this has implications for how to hang the quilt. I'm thinking I will just turn the top edge over to make a channel, and hang it with the help of a long branch I found in my back yard. I'll post a photo of the finished piece once I've figured this out.

This spring and summer, I also started working on a new project. I have an established perennial garden, and each spring I am thrilled by three flowers that come into bloom at the same time: baptisia (also known as wild indigo, deep blue-purple), poppies (pale coral), and peonies (dark pink/magenta). I am in awe of their beauty.

I've done homage before to the baptisia, with this watercolor: 

But now I'd like to work on a textile project that is about all three. This will be very different subject matter for my textile work. I have no clear ideas about what the composition will be. Rather than working on sketches for a design, I'd like to work it out through making small maquettes with fabrics, so I've been dyeing fabrics this summer, looking to get the specific colors I want. It's really the colors I'm interested in rather than the specific forms of the flowers, though it's possible those will eventually come into play. Here's a pile of the fabrics I've dyed so far; the pile includes green, in case I want to reference leaves as well. The colors include some that are on target, though the blue needs a darker value and the green needs more blue. 

Here's a photo annotated with some information about the various trials (click on any photo to enlarge):

 

And a shout out to Carol Soderlund, who teaches a method for dyeing fabric that enables one to get precise colors (among many other aspects of working with fabric dyes). For some of my work, often the work that has the most personal meaning to me, there's a connection to a very specific color--either in the natural/material world or in my mind. Getting a specific color from dye is more challenging than from paint, so I'm grateful for the work Carol has done in this field. And she is such a great teacher!