Healing

     Finished "Healing" in time for the Open Art Competition at the Old Rock School Gallery!  Wish me luck!!

From this batik beginning...to the art quilt below, what a wonderful experience to make! Usually I draw my trees out on paper, this time, I just used my tjanting tool and went at it. Notice the central trunk, it represents the Trinity, which is central to all healing! This is part of the symbolism I talk more about below...

To this finished art quilt. "Healing" 22 x 27, NFS. Batik tree, thickened dyes in my three favorite colors, purple, green and brown, thermofax screening with two different screens, discharged, handmade seed pod stamp, metallic paint touches, paint stix rubbings, thread painted trees in background, stamped letters spell "healing" and scriptures all about healing on silk organza and attached with stitches, quilted background.

"Healing" detail

  One of the thermofax screens that I used contains the lyrics to one of my favorite songs, check it out here.  I love to use symbolism in my work like this.  Many times it goes totally unnoticed, but I know it's there.  In a piece like this, which will hang in my studio once it's back from the gallery, that symbolism is very strong and meaningful to me.  In my opinion, this is one of the biggest blessings about making art work, it is an opportunity to get as personal as you would like in your creative expression.

     I entered two pieces into the competition, Healing, and you may remember, "Your Days of Sorrow Will End."

"Your Days of Sorrow Will End" uses three small squares of commercial fabric, and three other techniques not used in "Healing." One is that the piece was Shibori dyed with the flag fold method, also a flour paste resist was applied all over, which produced the crackle appearance all over, and the dark orange scrollwork is painted fusible attached with heat to the quilt. Each art quilt that I make is unique and evolves with a mind of its own. I love the process of watching it unfold.