LAYERING

I'm really trying to focus my mind on my big Geology pieces for our group's exhibition in a month's time. The pieces I'm planning will be quilted panels on silk and the fabric is now ready to be painted or printed to represent layers and folds before I begin to stitch. I must begin in earnest if I'm going to get even one of them finished and I have to admit I'm struggling.

I'm not sure whether it's the size, the more structured form of the work or the time pressure that's holding me back. I normally work more intuitively so maybe I've just done too much planning. Yesterday, to change my mood, I tidied my work room - not just a delaying tactic, but much-needed and it's freed my mind a little.

Mono-printed paper manipulated in
Photoshop

My main problem is that I'm keen to stop the work becoming too linear as rock faces when seen exposed in cliffs or quarries are rarely undisturbed and have many fractures and folds in them. To help me represent these variations using paint as well as stitch, I've played around with some mono-printed and painted papers I did a while back - enhancing colour and contrast in Photoshop, tearing and sticking and leaving gaps to give contrast and these are the results.

I quite like the colours in the first piece (lighter in reality), although I will include more soft yellows to reflect the colour of the Cotswold stone.

Painted papers torn and stuck

I like the slightly random effect of the second test piece and especially the torn paper gap. I feel sure that this, at least will make its way into the completed work.

I've also gone back to a small silk-painted piece I did at the start of this project - shown in full in an earlier post. I've enlarged it in Photoshop to help me focus on colour and fold lines. I think also that the handstitch is quite close to the fluid effect I want to achieve.

Silk painted fabric with running stitch
to represent folds

 - so I think I know where the surface treatment will go - a combination of each of these - but I'm sure also things will evolve as I go along - they always do.