Dr. Adams commissioned me to make two fabric and photo pieces inspired by this little "serenity" piece. She provided two photographs of the same water view...a dusky evening view...and a daytime view.
I just finished the evening view and I'm pretty happy with it. It's larger than the inspiration piece and the companion, daytime view will be smaller. The frame is 12 x 12 and the matte opening is 4 1/2 by 4 1/2.
At first I tried exactly the same thing I had done before...but a patchwork square wasn't right for the photo. I played around with layers....and knew that was the direction I needed to go.
I chose printed batiks that picked up the textures and colors in the photo. I decided I needed complete control over layers and the slopes....so I did the whole thing by hand. I would have benefited from an appliqué lesson....but I think I did OK just winging it. If you look closely you can see my stitches....but I'm OK with that. It is hand pieced, after all.
I started at the top...with skinny strips of fabric to create a horizon line. Then I cut gentle curved pieces of the fabrics and played with placement and order. Hand dyed solids and batiks are the same on the front as the back...so I could try a curved piece several ways.
I finger pressed the edges and sewed them in one at a time. I constantly laid my matte on top see how it looked on the photo and in the matte opening. Using fabric tape I added the gold ribbon at the top with just a sliver showing.
It's not pretty...but here's the back. As I added a layer...I tried to cut away excess fabric to reduce bulk. After a good pressing I secured it all together using fabric tape and popped it into the frame.
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