Done!

Having already done a Through the Window piece for the last challenge, I felt I needed to do something deifferent for this one - and what a journey it has been.  I started from a book I'd been reading, Ruth First's 117 Days, in which she describes her period of solitary confinement (without trial) under the 90-day rule during the apartheid era in South Africa.  It's a powerful description and the mark one piece was almost a sort of illustration of the desciption of her cell in the book.  As I made the piece. I began to reflect on all the other ways in which people may be solitary and confined - for example through ill health, depression, domestic abuse, political oppression, bullying or simply being housebound..  By yesterday night I had not resolved the two ideas and I was dissatisfied with what the quilt had become, but I went to bed thinking I would at least get it finished and off my conscience.

At 4 a.m. I woke with the idea of this piece fully formed, jotted down a few notes and luckily got back to sleep.  Today has been a rush to get it finished - but at least that has made me keep it simple.  All that remains from the orifinal piece is the barred cell window, and I apologise for the fact that the view is not through the window  but this side of the barred window.  Though it's a bit wobbly and rough round the edges I don't find that a problem on this occasion, as it seems to suit the subject-matter.

It is open to a number of interpretations - feel free to ask your own questions and provide your own answers...

Next time I'll start earlier!

Shadow Drawing

Above is a photograph, taken by my late husband, of evening light through our front window.  I've also been fascinated by the different shapes cast onto my bedroom curtains at night shining through my neighbour's plum-tree.  At first I agonised over what to do - have always been fascinated by light through trees but wanted to do something different.  As time grew closer to the deadline I came across the photograph which reminded me of the shadow-drawings done by a former art teacher.

I have a method for approaching artwork - it begins with a long period of reflection and observation.  Sometimes but not always it will involve drawings, painting and so on.  In this case not.  The period of reflection allowed me to see that the shadows on my bedroom window were paler in some places than others, that in places shapes were crisp and elsewhere blurred, for example.  (I think this is my equivalent of the processes used by Oriental artists traditionally - according at any rate to a book I read as a teenager - of spending a whole morning looking at something and then drawing it in a single stroke).

Anyway, here it is.  I found a nice piece of silk charmeuse I'd dyed, plus hand-dyed silk organzas and polyester voile, together with back mistyfuse-type stuff, ironed the mistyfuse stuff onto the organzas, then cut and overlapped the shapes onto the background fairly freely, using different colours and fabrics to give different depths of shadows (Mags, you are NOT to try to identify any real botanical items - this is an abstraction of the sorts of shapes you get in gardens (well that's my story and I'm sticking to it)).  Then layered and machine-stitched (free motion) and bound with more of the silk which was the most difficult part - rotary cutting silk binding strips isn't something I'd recommend.

Not exactly a single stroke but pretty quick nevertheless.  Started Monday night, finished Weds afternoon whilst sitting chatting to a friend.  Not a great work of art but I sorta like it..

Introducing Sandra

Hi everyone - sorry I forgot to introduce myself earlier.  I'm probably the granny of the group - 64 in years - but inside my head I'm still nineteen.  I live alone (as a human) but with two cats who seem worryingly intensely interested in everything I do.  I have recently developed the top floor of the house (large Leeds terrace) into studio space - think linen cupboard and storage on the landing, large sewing-room with everything the right height thanks to kitchen going cheap on ebay plus design/painting/printing room.  Planning to downsize and move to Northumberland if I can a)stop what I'm doing long enough to decorate the house ready for sale (trouble about being retired is you can no longer afford to pay someone to do such things)  and b) find a place with large studio space with attached living accommodation.  So no need to hold your breath - though I am getting there a bit at a time.

Husband (died in 2000) was a painter (pictures not walls) and restorer of paintings and taught me a lot about art even if sometimes it nearly led to divorce (I did think that teaching someone about perspective by getting them to draw Whitby rooftops was somewhat unreasonable - for those who don't know Whitby, houses are higgledy-piggledy and all different sizes as well as being on hills and up steps and things...)  I also did a second degree in Cultural History which opened my mind to all sorts of things way back at the end of the sixties.

After a long time teaching English I was finally invalided out with CFS/ME when I took up quilting as therapy in 1993.  Later I tried to run a fabric-dyeing business (OK at dyeing, useless at business) during which I met Marion for the first time.  Then a hiatus until sometime around 2006 or so when I discovered art quilting and later computers and blogging, not to mention the Contemporary Quilt group.  As you can imagine I have no trouble filling my time, though I will admit I am by nature an arch-procrastinator.

Oh and I tend to talk too much.  Sorry about that!