It’s been months of work on this large new commissioned quilt and I am just about finished. I’ve gotten a lot done since my last post about it and will show you a few of the most recent pictures and my next post I show you the finished quilt.
It’s around 50″ wide. The fabric was painted, then appliqué was done, covering almost the entire quilt top. Finally the extensive thread painting was completed. I’ve nearly finished the quilting. Almost at the finish line and leaving for Australia to rest in it’s new home, the office of the psychologist who commissioned the piece.
I’ve made some real progress at this stage, as the photo reveals.
I’m posting a few pictures along the way, as I work on my latest art quilt commission. Feel free to look over my shoulder if you’d like to follow my progress along the way. As I mentioned in my last post, this art quilt was commissioned by a psychologist in Australia. The subject she chose was an exotic tree called the Royal Poicaat. It was completely unknown to me, but that was about to change. I scoured the web searching for photos and any details that I could find. What I found was a gorgeous tree.
Looking at so many images of this unfamiliar tree. I wanted to feature some of what I felt were it’s most interesting traits. Rather than doing a whole tree which would not show a large enough view of these traits. I choose instead to show several branches drooping down from the upper right side showing some of it’s curving limbs, amazing flowers and the leaves that looked like fern fronds.
Sunshine, Warmth and Water = An Ecstasy of Color and Fragrance
Just bought pots of early spring flowers, the first to hit the stores this Oregon spring. Every winter at the exact moment when you know you can’t take one more dark dreary day, then spring arrives at that exact moment we need it. The dark dreary days are immediately forgotten and forgiven because IT IS SPRING IN OREGON!! And Oregon is a mighty great place to be in the spring!!
With the prospect of all the lovely flowers to come, another thing comes to mind. Art quilts with wonderful flowers and the sights of spring, summer and even into fall.
One day after I logged on, I found my blog theme had imploded, words filled every square inch.Words, titles, snippets from posts, letters covered my entire
home page.
A voice was screaming in my brain when I realized what this meant,”Arrrgh, I’ll have to set up a new theme all by myself”,“OHO.NOO What am I going to do?” A deep groan of despair escaped my lips “Who would I find to help me?”
The thought struck fear in my heart! I am tech challenged to put to put it mildly,.
How do you stand out in a crowd of people dressed in black?
Wear whit
I make art quilts for sale and I do silk paintings. I want my work
to get noticed. Do you want art work that stands out on your walls?
Contrast can make a big difference.
Strong contrasts make things stand out, they are noticed immediately, commanding your attention. A strong contrast will intensify the impact of the contrasting items.
The definition of the word contrast is the state of being strikingly different from something else, typically something in juxtaposition or close association.
Why my interest? I’ve been thinking about contrasts lately and more to the point, how can they be used effectively in to create interesting fiber art quilts. I’ll get to that query later. But first I have one of my little stories to relate.
One day, for some reason, I read some my older posts. As I read, I noticed a common thread running through many.
I often seemed to be in a dither, “My shop is empty. My oh my! I need to make more quilts, More! More”. There weren’t enough hours in the day to accomplish everything.
It occurred to me that perhaps I was making excuses for myself…hum, Could I benefit from an examination of my time management.
There are several new projects I’ll be sharing with you. As much as I enjoy making each art quilt I do, this one has meant the most to me. The reason, it’s a gift for a friend and that’s the best kind of quilt to make.
I’ve been focusing on several quilts. As I’m wrapping up the Stained Glass Window quilt, it occurred to me that I may not have posted photos of the other quilts I’d finished.They are both painted silk with thread painting.Here are a few photos. Both quilts are available on my website.http://barbaraharmsfiberart.com
They are both painted silk with thread painted,
Pink Blossoms Blue Sky
Detailed view of the thread painting on Pink Blossoms Blue Sky
Pink Against Blue a fiber art quilt
Details of dogwood thread painting
The Red Egret art quilt
Here’s the other art quilt I’ve finished, the Red Egret, I began this art quilt with silk painting the background. While doing that I roughly blocked in the color areas where the features of the design would later be placed. The egret was created almost exclusively with thread painting,
A pictue of the art quilt Red Egret in it’s entirity
The paints I mixed for the water I added a sprinkle of glitter to create the glints of that are reflected off the glassy surface of the water. light makes when reflected
Red Egret fiber art quilt by Barbara Harms
A detailed look at the thread painting that created the feathers.
Red Egret Fiber Art Barbara Harms
So there they are, a couple of the quilts I’ve finished. Next post I’ll show you the 3rd, a stained glass window quilt.. commission
Barbara Harms-Working on
new site,everything has been a little unreal around here.
I have finally finished the long promised, illusive website which I have spoken of endlessly for months. Any second it would go live. But I realized finally the hopelessness of my quest. I lacked the most basic knowledge and skill needed. The advert for this template site was “Anyone could build a website in an afternoon”. “I’m an anyone, so why not?” I thought. Because no one counted on this anyone as so hopelessly beyond the simplest skills that any 4 year old child possesses. Months and months have passed. Finally with endless hours of tech support, a miracle! The Pigs Are Flying!
Barbara Harms Fiber Art & More 