Tuesday 2 August 2011

Third piece for our Exhibition ......

As I said (on the 20th July) in the first post I did about these five pieces of mine, most of my inspiration comes from the Swedish artist Kay Neilsen, and quite a few of you might recognise this as being from his fabulous illustration of The Twelve Dancing Princesses.  In his piece there are twelve dancing princesses along the bottom, dancing through the trees, on their way to the ball!  
The background is hand dyed cotton fabric, and most of the applique is with silk, in its many forms.  I made silk paper for one treetop, used a silk hankie for another, silk rods for tree trunks, as well as paper string and mulberry bark!  Quite a bit is embellished with the embellisher machine, and I also hand stitched with silk thread on the tree tops!!  There is lots of hand stitching around the bottom too (I don't do hand stitching - that's why I mention it!)  If you click on the image, you should get a bigger picture.
This is a closeup of the little fawn.  I call this piece "Rendezvous" as I reckon she is waiting for her friend.
We are hanging the Exhibition on Thursday, and I am really looking forward to seeing all twenty pieces together.  We reckon this is our best yet!
Till next time ......

6 comments:

Heather said...

They just keep getting better Val. So much work in each of them and a lovely dreamlike quality created by all those beautiful textures. I love the little fawn and the soft, graceful lines of the trees, and I took special notice of the hand stitching! It's a stunning piece.

Magpie's Mumblings said...

How I wish I could come to your exhibition! I would love to see these in person, but then again maybe you wouldn't want me to - I would HAVE to touch and I know that's a no-no at shows. I don't know what I like the most about this one - it would have to start with the fact that it's blue and go on to the stitching, and, and....well, what's not to like??

Mandi said...

I love this piece Val...it's my favourite, definitely embodies the spirit of Neilsen......

Doreen G said...

You've done it again Val--so beautiful and well done on the hand stitching.

Ati said...

I didn't visit your blog for a while and now I am overwhelmed by the beauty of your wall quilts!! They are all FANTASIC! This last one is my fave with the white on the blue. Marvelous! Wish I could see them "live".

Maggi said...

I just love all the pieces Val. Having seen one of your exhibitions I thought it would take some beating so if you say that this is your best yet I am really sorry not to be able to come down to see it. I think you have captured the Kay Neilsen feel so well.