I've been thinking about the act of leaving of moving, not so much about where one goes but rather about the place left behind. I lived many years in the central valley of Calif and never liked the area. I had plenty of reasons, conservative politics, unbearable summer heat, small town thinking but in the last year when I was packing up and selling, I took to really 'seeing' what I was leaving. The green fields of asparagus in spring, the acres of sunflowers in summer, the waterways, bridges and islands, the warm evenings and the geese in fall flying overhead. I said goodbye to the parts I loved and when I drove out of town I never looked back!
So this piece relates to the biblical account of leaving Egypt and I couldn't help but wonder besides all the bad there must have been, that last look appreciating the marshes and the fertile Nile. This piece represents a vestige of what was left behind.
A process I have been exploring has been how to best combine paper to cloth so the piece is not too stiff and can still be machine stitched and soft enough for embroidery. I'm not interested in creating 'quilts' but the composing is tricky for me...anyway I tried using diluted matt medium and next I will try diluted wallpaper paste. Can you see the loose threads representing marsh grass?
Have a great April...!
