Saturday, November 22, 2014

Mosaic Gateway

12"x12" cradled wood panel, digital print on organza, flour paste resist, hand stamped cloth, turquoise beads and machine and hand stitching, painted netting.

The last wood cradled panel with the last intentional look at ancient mosaic imagery. Composing on paper and cloth allows for the adding onto and the cutting away of an image but this 12"x12" structure has kept me aware of my borders and edges... not always comfortable for me. The digital photo of the doorway was a part of a photograph I took years ago and never thought I would find the place for it. I finally used the last of my turquoise beads on this one and the upper cloth was a scrap from my first husbands suit pants. Nothing is safe around me!

New work ahead ... I've been doing a ton of writing, visiting museum sites and reading a few special books. I haven't quite found my direction so I imagine there will be some starts and stops some failed attempts and maybe even happy results ...I just regularly show up at the work table and things begin happening sooner or later. While my focus is in flux, I am gathering this years work into a 2015 calendar/planner.

Happy Thanksgiving!

8 comments:

  1. Thank you Sue ... these browns and greens and grays have been and interesting mix!

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  2. This is a wonderful collage. When I clicked on it and saw all the details I fell in love. The doorway, the touch of turquoise and the stitching. Wow! Hope you had a beautiful Thanksgiving, Mary Ann and all these days of the holidays are filled with joy.
    roxanne

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    1. Roxanne, Thank you for these good words...I'm still very much enthused about working with cloth.
      This time of year is wonderful... love the dark rainy days in the studio!

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  3. Lovely collage - I'm totally enamoured with all the details!

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    1. Thank you! I seem to enjoy loading on the 'stuff' such as beads and assorted treated fabric ... main interest is in telling a story. Glad to meet you.

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  4. Your work is so complex. This one feels like "midnight at the oasis", that old Linda Ronstadt song. I feel like I've said that before about another piece? Love how the bead work looks like grass framing the doorway.

    An exciting but sometimes daunting place to be, starting new work. But you sound like you have a method that works. Love that it involves writing. I'm not much of a researcher but writing is important to me. Maybe some text will find it's way in to the new work??

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    1. Thanks for the good look at this piece. Ahh text you say! My method of beginning new work does begin with writing and some of that is asking questions of myself. It seems on reading back what I've written, I'm interested in more silk screen, shiny stuff and text so just between you and me ... I'm headed towards ' illumination of ancient scribes' ... now I'm feeling challenged!

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