moon reflections: through the window

 here is my interpretation of through the window -  i tried a number of other ideas that just didn't work and ended up going with some small pieces i was puddling around with and it became something bigger.

each panel is a piece of linen sprayed with diluted black ink and stitched with silk thread. the moon centre was made by putting a round sponge in the middle of the fabric and spraying the ink around it.

the bottom layer is canvas painted with black gesso and a piece of silk chiffon painted onto the canvas with more diluted black gesso. each panel is stitched on the foundation canvas/silk layer.

the 'sticks' are pieces of cotton mariner's string soaked in a mixture of paverpol, fibre paste, black pigment powder and fabric paint.

Through the Window (in the Burren)

Through the Window (Burren inspired)

I got the binding put on this piece last night, but by then it was a bit dark to get a good photograph of my piece, so had to wait for daylight this morning to get the photo.

A contemporary quilting group I'm involved with (Genesis Patchwork) are currently working on a group project about the Burren. The Burren in Co. Clare is famous for it's limestone rock, rare plants, archaeological ruins etc.

So I decided to use my "Through the Window" piece as a sample piece for my Burren project. I have a number of photographs of old church windows and ruins so I took 2 of this photo's and turned them into a thermofax screen. Then I screen-printed the windows onto hand-dyed fabric.

I then used my embellisher machine to add scrim, sari ribbon etc. to add a bit more texture and interest.  I got a pack of Derwent Inktense pencils in the post this week so decided to experiment with them on this piece as well. A stencil was used with the pencils to add the lettering.

This photo of a window in Carron Church was used to make one of the thermofax screens.

Carron Church

Through The Abbey Window - better photo...

...this is a photo taken in daylight.  The jug and glasses show up much better now.

I forgot to mention on my previous post that the shadows on the sill and the arch above and around the window were created by using a grey Markal paint stick.

Through The Abbey Window

I made it!

Although the photo isn't great.  It's the best I could do in artificial light so I will take another tomorrow in daylight.

Those of you who know me know that I love making art quilts from photos and this one is made from three photos taken on our holiday in and around Bath.

I loved the brickwork on the sides of the one on the left, which is reproduced here with the aid of fusible web and nice sharp scissors!

The garden outside is a photo printed onto silk then hand embroidered.

The lead on the window is machine embroidered.

If you look closely you can see a jug and a couple of glasses on the sill which are taken from the other window and reproduced here with two layers of gold organza with wadding behind to give depth.

Again these might be more noticeable in the daylight.

So I made the deadline...just!  

I'm looking forward to the next one now... 

Wisteria

My original plan was to make something inspired by the photos I took through the stained glass windows in our house (see my previous post). I was thinking of layering various sheers and painted fabrics. So I did lots of painting with transfer paints - tortuous, abstract, twisted tree trunks, that sort of thing - then after a bit I just started playing with the leftover paint. I made this map-like design by trickling paint over the page and causing it to run into the other lines, a bit like a roadmap.

I thought I would use this design as a sort of abstract stained glass window to layer over the rest, so I ironed it on to lutradur and cut out the white bits. I layered this frame design over the various sheers and painted fabrics; that didn't look right but I felt more of a connection to this lutradur design than to any of the other fabrics I had prepared.

After lots of auditioning fabrics and layers, I found this Indian sari fabric which looked good. Then I started thinking that instead of stained glass windows it would represent the bare wisteria branches growing outside our bedroom window that I have been staring at for years. So it evolved into that. I quilted it along the horizontal wavy lines and some of the vertical branches, and decided to couch some decorative threads to add depth and dimension and bring some of the branches forward a bit.

Then I framed it with these sheer ribbons to look like the window frame.

Added accent beads and it was done! I am pleased with how it has turned out although it changed into a piece different from what I was planning in the beginning!

Rose Window

Here is my take on "Through the Window" As light comes through a window I decided on a Rose window. It is stitched as a reverse Applique. I drew the window pattern on black fabric and each element  was cut and needle-turned with the black being stitched to the "glass" fabric which was behind the black.

Can you tell what it is yet....?

...It's coming together, slowly.

The stone inlay on the side of the window took some time, as did the embroidery on the window - it looks a bit like stained glass but it's supposed to be the flowers in the garden outside!

The most intense bit is now over - I hope so it shouldn't take as long for the next bit - I just need more hours in the day!!

The Idea...

...is set in my mind and now the materials are ready.  

I'm combining three photographs altogether - two of them are windows taken in Lacock Abbey - a fascinating National Trust property.  I've taken a photo of one window with an interesting wall around it and the objects from the windowsill in a different photo to create my own window.  The view outside is going to be a textile piece created from a photo printed on silk from the garden at Dyrham Park - another favourite property which we visited this year.

I can't wait to get started - I'm really excited about this!  It's been great seeing how my wedding quilt is developing but I really do need an artistic diversion after all that quilting!

more windows...

seen at Burleigh today. First, the blocked up windows in this wing of the house; windows were taxed in Britain in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and it is not uncommon to see houses of that period with bricked up windows. That said, it seems unlikely that was the reason here...there are an awful lot of windows in this wonderful building. Remember to click on the images to get the larger view; the blocked ones are near that annoying car in the foreground. The second was a window in a partition overlooking the Garden Of Surprises. Isn't it gorgeous? I love the contrast of colour and vibrancy in this image.

And...I have thought of a way of expressing the loss of contextual information in translation in a visual way... I suspect that might well be my quilt for this challenge... Watch this space, as they say...

a few ideas

Through The Window

 I knew exactly what I wanted to do when I chose this theme whilst exploring Somerset and Wiltshire...then I found another window which I loved...

...so my idea now is to combine the two along with an outside view of the beautiful flowers in this photo...

I've made a start and will be making this A3 size - unless a specific size has been stipulated??

Mulling it over!

OK!!  Through the Window.........................first thought was a traditional Attic window block either looking outward or inward............................broaden your outlook woman I said to myself!!   Then I thought ..............what comes through a window?................why, light  light of course !!  So that is where my thought processes are going at the moment with a lot of colour!!

Through the window - Annabel - initial thoughts.

Through The Window, is more of a challenge than I realized.

Of course what you see through a window could be anything and everything, and therefore anything would go; it could be a garden scene, street scene, graveyard etc etc., but I think the window element is important, and needs to be in there in some way.

So, I have to put the window in (frame, attic windows etc) or I have to show the distortions of speed (Mags) or colour and texture (Liz).

After a bit of consideration however, I think I shall go along with trying to portray, in some way, a phrase my mother used to say to me as a child ....."you are the window through which you see the world"




Pages from my altered books will help too. The first one is of a window cut into a page, and I like the idea of making a window to look through.

This anguished page is more of a self portrait involving emotions.  I have to say lest you think me on the verge of collapse, I was taking photos of myself pulling faces in the hope of finding interesting facial features to paint. They all turned out to be ghastly, but waste not want not, they ended up in my Angst Altered Book!


 Since making this page, I've added a good dollop of paint to the images to tone me down a bit!!




This takes me off on a tangent and allows me to intepret the challenge is a different way. It's probably going to be more of a self portrait and may well end up as an abstract.

Looking through windows with Sue

This is a magnificent Victorian window in the Orangery at the Imperial Hotel in Exeter, where I took my nephew and daughter to lunch earlier this year.  I love the ironwork and the distortion of the view beyonf and the reflections on the room behind me.

Taken through a rather grubby salty window in November 2010 when we stayed in Brighton at the Queen's Hotel.  The seagulls were sheltering from the cold sea winds.

I thought there were some nice shapes in this photo - the arcs of the chimney guards and the two seagulls in similar poses.

And this broken window in the Abruzzo, Italy, a year ago imposes it's own pattern on the view beyond.

The Second Challenge...

has been set by Angela. The theme is 'Through The Window', and was inspired by a visit to Lacock Abbey; the holiday is, as Angela says, proving inspiring! The end date for this challenge is the 25 October; go to it!

This was the original post...after a storm of protest, the date is now 25 November, as it should have been from the start. Mea culpa, many apologies.