Old Man Winter - Final

This may not have been the original idea of a medium for my re-visiting this piece, but I really like how it turned out.

Merry Christmas to ME (and all of you). 

Adding Colour

As there are so many degrees of contrast in the original photo, I didn't think staying with pure white would give me the results I wanted.

So I added colour.

Now the issue is finding the right background.

Being .....'Mary Pal'

I first saw Mary Pal's technique of cheesecloth manipulation at a gallery in Burlington maybe 4 yrs? ago.   www.marypaldesigns.com

It strongly resonated with me as I use a lot of cheesecloth in my work. My usage never really commanded center stage the way her work does. So her technique went on my Bucket List...and finally........

This was a woodcut of 'Winter' I had rendered in cloth for a Northcott challenge a few years ago. I had been waiting a long time to revisit.

Robert's Stag - Final Assembly

This still needs to be sandwiched and quilted but that won't affect it's current appearance.

A few more ferns and another young conifer finished the foreground. The white areas were just....too white, so they got a sponge bath with coffee and then some thread sketching to add more definition.

As yet, I'm undecided how I'm going to finish the edges. For now......it can be set aside for other things.

 As a comparison, here is the original colour blocking.

Robert's Stag - Forest Ferns

A fresh crown of antlers on Robert's Stag means this scene is late summer, early autumn. 

Today I made ferns, past their prime and losing their green and showing all shades of brown and yellow.

Stitching two full hoops took most of the day, but they did fill the corner, and finish the camouflage of the feet that aren't there. This is one time when using variegated threads works well.