Tuesday, July 25, 2017

Homesteading

This is The Land as the Crow Flies as it stands right now (about 40" wide by 19" high) ...


Over the past few weeks it has morphed considerably from green grids of cloth weaving laid out linearly ...


to various trials at angles ...


along with a fair bit of design mending as I realized I wasn't happy with some of my fabric choices.

There was also consideration of how and where to eventually place the house ...


and how to represent the stone wall boundary lines (torn strips of linen rolled between the fingers and couched down with two strands of floss), as well as the topographic elevation contours (detached backstitch worked with two strands of variegated floss) ...


So far, so good.

18 comments:

  1. A long time ago, someone told me about Isamu Noguchi, Japanese artist and landscape designer who said, "We are a landscape of all we have seen" I don't know why this quote came to mind upon viewing this but perhaps it is because Liz, this is such a living, breathing, transcending cloth of place. Now I've lived in Texas so maybe there is that intrinsic recognition but this goes deeper; goes to that soul place where longing and memory for a land reside. All I know for certain is that I could crawl into that green woven landscape and simply and happily, Be...

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  2. so much here to look at. so much to think about. is there a lot of texture? it looks like there is .

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  3. Vicky - You're absolutely right about the texture ... I'm especially pleased that the ragged edges of the green patches make me think of what a crow might see looking down on prairie grasses blowing in the wind.

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  4. Marti - I'm going to try replying to your comment again ... first with thanks as your words are always so gladly received here. And second with a recognition of our shared love of green ... perhaps because it's a color that moves so gracefully between warm yellows and cool blues.

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  5. Excellent visual Liz.!! We don't have grasses blowing here in the western half of Washington state.

    But the winds....when they come roaring between the 2 mountain ranges, Olympics and Cascades, we cringe with every noise, waiting for a tree to fall on the house.

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  6. So far, so Very Good! The eyes roam the land, noticing diversity & how it all still flows together. I can only imagine the time this has taken so far...

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  7. wonderful..simply a magical pull to the cloth in ways one cannot do when flying high in an airplane....the woven landscape is a textural delight. Brava, so much success in this work.
    Kristin

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  8. Stunning Liz!
    I love all the subtle colour changes, especially the greens - it's raining hard here again today so no shortage of green in my part of the world!

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  9. Vicky - our street is named for the Cascades! And while we too have wild winds at times, our trees are small enough to present less risk.

    Hazel - So glad your eyes traveled here ... and yes, many glue stitches, but all happily wrought.

    Mo - Thanks to you I dare to try.

    Kristin - I thank you even as I imagine our five acre homestead as a microcosm of the greater landscape we can see from our magnificent flying machines.

    Gill - Lucky you to have rain ... ours is a land of flood and drought, but we love it dearly.

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  10. So far so good sums it up ... love to see how you are working through the process. When you changed the green areas from linear to angular, all of a sudden the curve of the earth is evident. Love the idea of a crow flying over. Airplane flight is wonderful, but to fly like a bird... that would be amazing!

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  11. Peggy - I blush ... thank you

    Joyce - I'm glad you enjoy seeing the process ... it helps me to remember the steps along the way. And flying ... I love to imagine how it might be

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  12. Liz...dare I say that I have the privilege of actually touching the real McCoy when visiting you and Don on July 22nd? Several times, I "snuck" an extra touch and inspection. Inspection as in the sense of absorbing. Of course, I am drawn to anything green, being my favorite color. Your work has captured and hit spot on as a representation of your landscape. Frank and I will always treasure the experience and hope to revisit. Your house is a warm and loving home filled with treasure. Love and blessings to you and Don.

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  13. really, this piece is looking very good. i love how you've continued to work out the design issues and make it stronger.

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  14. This woven patchwork is so engaging and beautiful. It paradoxically evokes a rooted earthiness and an aerial sense of flight. What a powerful statement of place!

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  15. Just loving this Liz - I can feel myself above it. Especially the details - the rock/brick wall and contour lines - everything holds and has its place and is needed; just like the landscape.

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  16. Sue - I dare to hope that someday you and Frank will live close by so we can stitch together ... and perhaps gather together a band of like-minded stitchers to join us

    Velma - Thank you for seeing progress here

    Dana - You were the first to bring it my attention that my stitching veers to the geographic. Thank you for that

    Fiona - Thank you ... the challenge now is in figuring out how far to go with this

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Thank you for taking the time to comment!