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

Tribute to Red Circles, Birds and Friendship

I am so touched by Mia Bloom paying tribute to our friendship in her Collage #29 that I must write about this today.  There couldn't be a better way to describe who a person is than to illustrate that person's likes.  Mia certainly did this in her Collage #29.  She wrote that I love red circles and birds and then produced this wonderful collage.

Mia Bloom's "Collage #29"

My appreciation for a solitary red circle harkens back many decades to an evening when my mother and I attended an art exhibit at UCLA.  When we walked into the exhibit, we came face to face with a painting the size of a wall.  It was all white with the exception of a big red circle.  At that time neither my mother nor I could figure out why this was considered art.

Over the years I have learned how very important placement, balance (or lack of it),  and color are in a work of art.  Periodically a circle, sometimes a red circle, will appear in my own art and each time, I smile as I reflect upon that painting we saw many years ago.  I shared that story with Mia some time ago and she remembered it. 

Here is a stark example of my thinking about that same red circle.

"On the Edge"

Now, for the reference to birds...Somehow, birds keep popping up in my art.  Some are in flight, some are not, but but every so often they manage to creep into my work one way or another.  Just the other day I caught a glimpse of a loudly chirping little bird atop a telephone pole.  Because ledges and heights are not among my favorite places to be, I had a fleeting moment of compassion for the little feathered fellow.  Instantly, my mind acknowledged that birds can fly and I figured that if I, too, could fly, heights would not longer be threatening.  Perhaps I have a hidden desire to be able to fly.

All that being said, Mia Bloom tapped into the essence of the things that make me tick and for her to take the time to put her creative thoughts into action to recognize the Linda of Linda is an honor, indeed.  Thank you, Mia Bloom. 

I highly recommend that you check out Mia's collages on her blog.  She describes her 30 collages as a self imposed challenge to create a collage a day, in 30 minutes, for 30 days. 

Always remember, never fear to experiment.  

Sometimes wonderful things happen.

© Linda Friedman 2014.  All rights reserved.