Abstract Flamingo

"Abstract Flamingo"

This is one of the small abstracts done from silk scraps.

I started with uneven raveling strips of silk, free hand cut curves and pieced together. These were put on a piece of peltex, and some green silk placed on top to look like seaweed.
Quilted the whole thing with metallic threads to suit the sheen of the silk.
(sulky halogram lime green, and gold YLI threads)

Here are some detail shots proving no piece is too small to embellish.

To me, as a painter, these are mixed media art work suitable for a shadow box frame. The benefit of being made from fiber is they can also be placed on a tabletop easel, or pinned to a cubical wall.

There is a blending of the craft of making quilts and bead work, with the art of drawing, painting  in these.

 Look at that little lizard climbing up the seaweed !





Note:
1.continuation of seaweed line with the line of metallic threads
2. repetition of curved line in piecing, in applique, in quilting, and in beaded seaweed on the right.

My Flamingo was created in thread with feather quilting. I first stitched a straight line curve of a neck and body, then feathered off that even using feathers to create the legs. I returned after finishing the quilting to place seed beads along the body and neck in coral, and line green on the legs.

Of course there is a hibiscus quilted in with rayon thread.

Binding is copper tissue lame'

I teach you how to do this easily despite fragility of fraying fabric, in my binding 12 ways workshop.
All done on machine as well.







3.Shading inside the feathers was done with a grayish-purple prismapencil.
4. Beads hand applied thru top and batting, to repeat curved lines.
5. Applique done without fusible to allow for organic fraying, which adds to texture and color. The pink applique strip frays green, as the warp thread is green in this pink dupioni silk. 

 I am a representational artist... I like to interpret what I see and feel. Abstraction is not easy for me so I am doing a lot of it these days. I marry it with my mental images though, so that I can enjoy doing it.

I believe abstractions teach us a lot about art.
They are kind of a Rorschach Test. How do you put yourself into an abstract? What do you see in them?

The fact that each person will see something different in abstracts is important. That leads to involvement. Participation instead of being told what to see. In the beginning,  I saw a flamingo in the pink abstract lines you saw in my second photo so that became my focus.

That's because I love flamingos... but from a distance a viewer can't really see my quilting and beading on this piece. They will make up their own minds until they look closely.

My husband saw this design wall one evening...

With three "doorway" works, the forest and flamingo. I thought he would love Blue Grotto, but he said his favorite was the pink one.
One never knows...

I am often inspired by a flamingo and have finished at least 25 flamingo quilts in my career. I should share some of those quilts here one day.
 I did a flamingo series on journal quilts sent to Houston Quilt Festival one year, and show those in my lectures. From large to small I love the colors and lines of this bird.

This post is a fanciful story about two flamingos:    flamingo-love-story

enjoy a flamingo? this video is hilarious....  confused confab