While I'm on the subject of pawpaws, I thought I would talk about "Reed Run", which also uses pawpaw leaf images. Pawpaws like to grow in colonies, on hillsides, and near water, and all of these conditions are met along the edges of a small local stream, or "run", that meanders through land preserved by the Lancaster County Conservancy and drains into the Susquehanna River. This quilt is my attempt to interpret with textiles the transcendent experience of hiking the Reed Run trail.
The print on the left is a cyanotype on silk, and the print on the right is a heliographic print, done with textile paints on a heavily textured silk fabric. The heliographic print was enhanced with hand embroidery along the outsides of the leaves. I kept the color palette calm, and used large blocks of fabric for the piecing, to keep the energy level of the piece restful and tranquil. I added interest and movement with the intricate quilting stitching and the beadwork, including my signature cloud shapes at the top of the work. ********************************
The bottom of the piece has couched threads to suggest the curving banks of the stream, and more beadwork using large opalescent glass beads and semi-precious stones that stand in for the rocks and rills along the course of Reed Run. As with all fiber work, photographs can approximate but not equal the experience of viewing the work in person--if you are in the Lancaster (PA) area during the month of November, I hope you have the opportunity to stop in at Isadore Gallery and see it for yourself.
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Reed Run was exhibited at the Pacific International Quilt Festival, the Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival, and was at the Pennsylvania National Quilt Extravaganza as part of my special exhibit, "River Visions"
1 comment:
I especially like the colors on your heliographic pawpaw. Ochre and lavender look so gorgeous together.
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