Quick Piece

It feels so good to be producing art again after a very long dry spell. I have had a difficult time in the last year, and I think that has affected my creativity. 

However I think I am in the homestretch!  I even feel like exercising again, and this always happens when the weather warms up. I think I need to move somewhere that winter does not take up 8-9 months of the year.

So this little piece is a nod to winter breakup--when the Yukon River starts to flow again, when the little bushes along the riverbank begin to get leaves, and spring arrives in the Yukon.

Spring can't come too soon for me!

Another Thread Painting Finished (finally)

I have been making good on my new years resolution and have been finishing some of my thread paintings. I've posted the corrections I made on the truck at Snag Creek, and now I have completed the 'Summer Field' thread painting.

It took a very long time to get into this painting. A very long time. I think I started this almost 2 years ago…

I think it takes me so long because these pieces have to go through an ugly phase.

Then I have trouble trying to get an idea where it should go. I lose interest, and despair.
But if I let things percolate long enough (2 years?? come on!), and push through the blah stage, I get back in the groove and usually can get it done.

Then sometimes I have to let it percolate AGAIN for a long period of time to make sure the work is done. One of my favorite things is cropping the piece and getting such nice, clean edges.

And here it is finished and mounted. Yes, I did date this 2012 because that was when I took this photo and started the piece. 

At this rate, I should have my next piece done by 2016.

Truck Thread Painting

The colours on this truck have always bothered me. I thought it was done, but I did not bind it or put it in a frame, so I guess I knew it wasn't done. 

Before tweaking:

So today I played on my 'new' Bernina 830 (the old mechanical version). I just got it, my Bernina guy has serviced it to an excellent level, and I wanted to give it a whirl to see how it would do with free motion quilting. 

It worked GREAT!  What a super machine... I think I almost like it better than my Bernina 180 which is my Precious..

Anyway, here is the completed truck after tweaking:. 

I added some metal bits to the back of the cab to give the illusion of a truck box. The truck looked funny without some kind of junk back there. 

I added some orange and red fireweed as I thought the original colour was too brown. These really make the piece look more realistic, and I am happy with this look now. Fireweed in the height of summer is this tall and this red.

I also worked on the truck a bit to highlight some curves and extended the fender at the front left, and finally, I added some shading below the front fender. I could have done more, but I didn't want to overwork it. 

I still think this little evergreen tree is funny looking, but I left it. Some of the little trees do look funny.

Overall, I am pleased with this piece. I am going to send a picture to Sue Thomas Who kindly allowed me to use this picture. 

As you may see in the first photo, I called this piece Autumn at Snag Creek.  

Done!