Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Bird's Eye View of Mt. Hood

You may remember that I wrote that the next show theme for High Fiber Diet is "Bird's Eye View". I started my first piece for this show this week, using my photo of Mt. Hood from an airplane window as inspiration.

I am struggling a little bit and still not sure if I am going to like my finished piece, but, you know, that is usually how I feel at this stage of invention.
I did not want to create a straightforward representational landscape, nor did I want to work totally abstractly. I like that area somewhere between the two. My thinking was to work with the color in a more abstract way. I also decided to do some stamping on plain fabrics to create texture and dimension. With that in mind I made a large drawing to work from and started cutting pieces from solid colored fabrics.

As I cut I was laying my pieces out on a piece of rusty red fabric, thinking I might depart from my usual base fabric choice which ranges from gray to brown to black. This is the fabric that will create the lines.

The red was not speaking to me. I decided, instead, on a taupe fabric for the base. Before I started fusing the pieces, I used two little stamps I carved to stamp a pattern of Xs and circles on the fabrics. Then I used pastel pencils and paints to add more color and dimension to the fabrics. The taupe base proved to be dull—too close in value to the other colors, so I used a permanent marker to darken some of the lines.

Here is where I am with it today. I am liking it better and better, but there is still a lot to add—the land behind the mountain and the sky. It will be quite a wide, narrow piece when finished. The closeup below gives you a better idea of the stamped design and added color.

I'm beginning to think about how the stitching will work with everything else and getting excited about getting to that part. I'll continue to post the progress even if it self destructs at some point!

15 comments:

  1. This is looking fantastic, Terry!!

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  2. This is beautiful, Terry! I really like the colors you are using.

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  3. Laura C5:38 PM

    Will this be a wall hanging or ??

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  4. Laura C - Yes, a wall piece.

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  5. Thanks for the glimpse into your thinking process - an inspiration. I love that you are willing to share!

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  6. The taupe is definitely more Mt. Hood (I wonder what teal would look like?), but if you ever want to make a Kilauea, the red is PERFECT!

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  7. Thanks for sharing the process.

    As for colour and laying pieces out, I found I have to create on a cardboard surface or a piece of white fabric, because I end up doing work that goes with the cutting mat! Sometimes then the piece lost life when removed from that surface.

    If I do use the cutting mat when making design choices, I have learned I have to put it somewhere else to check if it still works w/out the dark teal background.

    Sandy in the UK

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  8. I love where this is going, and it does seem to be a good balance between representational and abstract. Can't wait to see what happens next!

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  9. Thanks for sharing your process -- I really liked seeing the evolution. And I like the emphasis of the permanent black marker very much.

    Sandy

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  10. If you decide you want to play with another idea, I have a perfect piece of indigo shibori cloth for this scene!

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  11. Very interesting - I loved it on the red, it had a Warhol feeling, but also like the taupe. It is recognizable as Mt. Hood, too! Reminds me of the Japanese woodcuts...

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  12. One of the challenges of doing original work is that sometimes it doesn't work. I think this one will make it though! The contours are lovely.

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  13. Susan LT5:21 AM

    Gorgeous. Loved seeing the progress and hearing about your strategies.

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  14. Beautiful, Terry. I have to say that the red was a gorgeous background and created beautiful line. But I can see why it didn't say "Mt Hood" to you.
    Thanks for sharing your process.

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  15. Hi Terry, I love your blog, especially the parts about your Christmas tree. I once decided on a flat in San Francisco because of the bay window, a perfect Christmas tree spot. Your tree is beautiful. I am now living back in coastal South Carolina near home. About the only thing I miss about CA is the Noble Fir Christmas trees with their widely spaced and perfectly horizontal branches. I am resigned to using a good old pine tree cut from a local forest... but still hang on to my big C7 ceramic lights and bubble lights. Thanks for the great pics on your blog, love the paper trees.
    Terry Simmons
    South Carolina

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