Friday, July 29, 2016

Flight Feathers #1 - Mounted Fiber Art


Flight Feathers #1 - 8"x8" - Mounted Art Quilt
Recently I completed a 40" x 40" work that featured a crow on a telephone wire.*  The theme had emotional significance for me because the call of crow on a wire was in the background as my father and I hugged and said for the last time, "I love you", before an accident took his life the next day.  Every time I see or hear a crow, I am reminded of my father and that he loved me very much.

Because many of my works have implicit undertones, I wanted to have a white feather in the bird's beak that would, to me, signify my father leaving this plane of existence.  This led to my experimenting with thread to create the perfect feather.  Unfortunately, white was "lost" on a silver lame field.  Still, I liked the feathers and knew that if I put them away for future use, they would surely become one with a growing drawer of "someday to use" items.

Thus, I set about making a sandwich of black fabric and batting and free motion quilted a background for the thread feathers.  I then stitched the leaves onto the mini quilt.  In my stash was an 8"x8" stretched canvas.  It was perfect for mounting this mini art quilt.

Close-up of First Feather
Close-up of Second Feather
Close-up of Third Feather
Once the quilt was mounted to the stretched canvas, I used a stenciling brush to lightly apply acrylic paint mixed with fabric medium to the four corners.

Last I backed the work with black mat board and attached D-rings to make the piece ready for hanging.
Back of Mounted Mini Quilt
*Once the large, 40"x40" quilt begins to travel, I will provide a picture and write-up of that, but I will post a "teaser" here.  The crow is constructed with dark blue and black satin and is heavily thread painted on the head and the breast.
Beginning of the Crow
Always remember, never fear to experiment.  
Sometimes wonderful things happen.
© Linda Friedman 2016.  All rights reserved

10 comments:

  1. Ever amazing is your work Linda. I am so privileged to experience your story telling in your art.

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    1. Ahhh, Anne Atkins, you are always so very kind to me. Since you appreciate the "story telling", I'm going to send a picture to your personal e-mail of the big quilt that tells the larger story. xoxox

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  2. thank you for sharing the significance of crows and feathers. Very, very special love! And your artwork/technique is fabulous. deborah

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  3. Debora, your comment was very meaningful to me. Thank you so much. After I read your comment, I reread the post and discovered that in one place I called the feathers leaves! Oye! Thank goodness one has the opportunity to edit these posts. Thanks again for taking the time to comment.

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  4. I love what you did with the feathers! It's nice to have small works of art on hand. Thank you for sharing the story of your dad. It touched my heart. xo

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    1. Glad you like what I did with the feathers, Mia. I just couldn't bring myself to toss them into the "another time" file. Something tells me that your dad loved you as much as mine loved me and that may be why this little story touched your heart.

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  5. Wonderful feathers in the work! I agree with Mia, thank you for sharing about the significance of them in your life. So interesting the power memories can bring.

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    1. Finding a way to represent feathers in a fairly realistic manner was a joyful challenge, Linda Miller. You are so very right about the power of memories and how they affect our lives. Thank you very much for taking the time to make a comment. :-)

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  6. fern@mail.postmanllc.net

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