Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Walk Softly...

"Walk Softly..."   12" X 12"     (c) LA Paylor 2014
I got behind in my work.
I just finished the STAT project... for last month!  Our  focus artist was Jacob Lawrence, and you'll have to google him to see images of his artwork.
When I approach these exercises I try to look at the artist's  whole body of work and decide what characteristics I see. In Jacob Lawrence I saw simplicity of line, gold red and blue, and political statements against oppression.
My poodle has found an enormous tree limb, taken up the battle against injustice in his world: Bad food, leashes, rules about furniture, and lack of autonomy.

My group is called STAT and you can see a few of my other pieces under that label   click here!

The group studies a different artist and makes a textile piece inspired by said artist, with an emphasis on textures.

now for a few comments on materials

The tree is from a Rennaisance vest I made dh. It is wonderfully shiny textured and fun to manipulate. You'll notice how I sort of pushed it into mounds while stitching. I couched a hairy yarn over the bark. 
All stitching was done in the quilting stage. I felt Jacob L's words would have been roughly cut, so that's what I did, and I wanted the viewer to fill in the blanks (carry a big stick) of the quote by T. Roosevelt.
The letters are held on by echo quilting with madeira twist metallic threads,same with the poodle curls. Free motion, fun, create as you go. The grass is var. YLI cotton 40 wt. Thick. The nose is inked on.

As a pup, Cole was president of the stick relocation team in our neighborhood. He attempted many a limb, because he always felt you should reach for the stars and he has a healthy ego.

Our next artist is Edward Hopper and due in two weeks. Wish me luck! LeeAnna

12 comments:

Unknown said...

You continue to amaze me with you humor and insight.

Mari said...

What a sweet dog! He looks really pettable (if that's a word). Can't wait to see Edward Hopper!

Gisela Towner said...

Love it!Looking forward to seeing the next one -- Hopper is one of my favorite artists of all time!

Lara B. said...

"Stick Relocation Team" - you are too funny LA! What a great piece of quilted art! I love how you did Cole's fur! Thanks for sharing it on Let's Bee Social!

France Nadeau ❅ inspiration imagination creation said...

I love how you made the dog's fur with the FMQ foot. Beautiful head too!

Susan at TheBoredZombie.com said...

Super cool! I love that phrase and I love dogs with big sticks. You dog may be way smarter than mine. With my dog, IRL, the next step would be getting stuck trying to get the stick through the door! ahahahaha!

Lovely work!

LA Paylor said...

bwaaahaahahaa! Cole tries to sneak small stuff in, like a dead something or a rag or ball. Once at halloween he picked up a plastic leg bone from someone's yard, and was trotting along after us on the walk! He'd be a little boy with full pockets of treasures.
LeeAnna

Anonymous said...

So cute! Do you sell them? If not, you should. Great idea :)

PugMom said...

Adorable! You've done Cole and Jacob Lawrence proud!

M. K. Clinton said...

That is absolutely adorable! I love the colors and the quote is perfect! ♥

Jackie Bouchard said...

That is wonderful! I love it! And a perfect sentiment for a pup that likes to wield a big stick. My dog does too!

Britt G. said...

What a great piece of art. I like the tree most of all and the fact that you did leave out a bit of the quote, as we should all know the end of it and if not it opens it up to conversation so we can learn it. (Visiting through Inspire Us Thursdays)