breathing space

The Chandler Center for the Arts in downtown Randolph, VT put out a call for pieces for their annual Area Artists Show. It is not a juried show, and so I gathered my courage and put together this piece and submitted it last week.

The theme of the show this year is "locally grown" and after some careful thought, I decided to do a piece that showcases the peace and calm of this lovely place. "Breathing space" came together very easily once I got started. I used my own Shibori indigo dyed cotton, some linen, denim and birchbark salvaged from our place here. (FYI...Stripping bark from a live tree does it harm, so please only use bits find on the ground, shed naturally from the tree).

I machine quilted the Shibori fabric first, then did some hand stitching to attach the frayed green linen to the piece. I used an awl to make holes in the birchbark and stitched the bark to frame the fabric. Then I placed the entire birch piece onto a hemmed piece of denim and stitched around the edges. I had originally hand sewn some acorn caps onto the green linen, but did not like the scale. I had a stash of drilled sunflower seeds from another project and liked them better. Then I took a walk around the yard and clipped a branch and found a bit of kitchen string and used some embroidery floss to create a hanger.

I've been a bit "under the weather" and so missed the opening reception. I look forward to seeing the show soon, and finding out what else has been "locally grown" in the gallery. For details, check out the website at The Chandler. My cousin Kristen's beautiful paper collage work is featured in the publicity. xo