"At Summer's End"

"At Summer's End"

I've always felt lucky to be born in Oregon, a state in the Pacific northwestern part of the US. In 90 minutes, I can go to the mountains or the the coast. We have four temperate seasons, making my area of the state green year-round. I love spring when my daffodils and tulips bloom. In the summer, I stay close to home, enjoying my garden and going to the beach. I never vacation during this season, because the weather is so great. Why leave? We often have Indian Summer in autumn, leading into winter, which is all about the holidays.

Oregonians are known for being outdoorsy types of people, making the theme--Conversing With the Earth--right up my alley.

Over the past year, I have been working with printing, including purchased and deconstructed screens, gel plates, stamps, and stencils. My work is often maximalist. I decided to take a minimalist approach using these recent tools and techniques.

Teasels are not a native plant to my area, but I appreciate their shape and their seeming hardiness. I think of them as a transition between summer and fall, as they go from green to brown.

The teasels are fused appliqués cut using a Silhouette Cameo. For the background, a batik, I used two screens from Jane Dunnewold. The first one is called "sticks", but I turned the screen vertically to serve as abstract grasses. The second screen features a dandelion seed. The dandelion, a weed, seems a perfect accompaniment to teasels.

Silk Screen--"Sticks"

Silk Screen--"Dandelion"

Prior to printing these screens, I printed the dandelion on paper and auditioned compositions with the teasel appliqués. How many dandelion prints did I want and where did I want them?

Composition 1

Composition 2

Next I had to decide what color to print the dandelions. We see them as white, but some testing proved it would not show well on the light value background. I had the idea to overprint the same color as the appliqués over the white print. It worked well. However, I wish I had been less accurate on some of them for greater effect. This is definitely an idea I will keep for future projects.

Dandelion and Teasel detail

Finished artwork prior to quilting and edge finish. I should note, the grasses printed as shown. It's not an error in paint application.

Progress photo

Edge finish: facing or binding? I felt the wall hanging needed a narrow frame. Auditioned fabrics.

Binding choice