Catching Dragons

 

It's been a busy week but I have spent some time in the studio and have designed and completed my donation piece for SAQA's Spotlight silent auction at the April convention in Santa Fe. It started above with a tracing which shows the outer edge and the inner mat edge. This is an excerpt from my original drawing of a dragon. It isn't always easy for me to think small. The total for these pieces has to be 6" x 8", miniscule by comparison to what I have been doing.

 

I charged in at the beginning of the week with the upper piece. The background of the dragon who is in flight, is the moon. I took my first impression as a literal one, using a hand dye pastel which was primarily white/grey. Working from there, I chose greens and oranges to flesh out the dragon. But I just felt something was missing. I am the color queen and it just did not ring true to my vision. So I changed it up with a yellow/orange/green hand dye and began fleshing out the dragon in purples, blues and hot pinks. Above you can see the contrast of the two pieces.

By Thursday night when I went to bed I had accomplished well over half of the work. As you can see above, the colors now have a vibrancy which is a hallmark of my artwork. I chose this segment of the original drawing because it was so hard to make out what it was. I do not often do anything non-representational. This piece is as close as I like to come to abstracted visuals. If you step back from the piece you may see many different things going on, not just the twists of a dragons tail, a bit of his wing and the moon. I love that the viewer can create his own story and maybe imagine the rest of the dragon.

 

CATCH A DRAGON'S TAIL

6" x 8"

January 2013

Commercial hand dyed fabric and batik fabric

Machine stitched

Here is the finished piece. Keep in mind only the owner will be able to see the whole piece if she wants to if removed from the frame. as it will be matted and 3/4 of an inch all around will be lost under the mat. 

I was so happy to have completed my piece for SAQA that I treated myself to a day at the salon. I NEVER go to a salon. I usually cut my own hair, do my own nails etc. But the rust in our well water was mucking with the whiteness of my hair and I thought I needed professional help. As we will be traveling to see Tony's mom in Florida soon, I splurged. My hair is now white again, my toes are salmon pink and I have a great styled cut. It was a good week in the studio and I am now focusing on the 12" x 12" piece I will be doing for the SAQA auction.

I will be bringing some playthings with me to Florida. I will have my iPad and hope to pick up wifi at the hotel so I can keep in touch. I will have a sketchpad, tissue, some pre-fused fabrics, pre-cut backing/batting pieces, scissors and some pins. With the help of the hotel iron and board, I hope to be able to put together a small piece or two and then finish them up on my machine when I get home. This will keep me designing with fabrics while I am away from the studio. I did this once before in New Mexico with great results. So while Tony is on the golf course, I will not only be sunning by the pool but having some fun with fabrics as well.