HATTIES TURTLE (Weekly Art Project #11, 2020)

 What a pleasure it was to walk into my studio yesterday morning & know I was about to transport myself to Egypt! Such a pleasant distraction from all the anxiety & stress flooding our world at the moment.

This week my project is inspired by the next stop along our Egyptian journey.  From Abu Simbel we returned to Luxor & this time we located ourselves on the West Bank of the Nile, so that we had better access to the alluring Valley Of the Kings.

Our first stop was to the incredible Temple of Hatshepsut (Hattie!).  She was an extraordinary Pharaoh who ruled for 20 years and was also a keen traveller.  As a result of her travels through Somalia she developed a major trade exchange between them.

 I was delighted to see that memories of her travels adorned her temple.

This reminded me of my own home, which... as we self isolate ...can be trasformed with a slight change of perspective...into a museum of our travels & experiences!  On our walls are artworks collected on our travels, each one instantly bringing to mind where they were purchased & the experiences we had in that place.

One of my photos of the frieze of Hatties travels is of this rather charming turtle.  I've chosen him as my muse this week, because...as it happens... a few days ago I saw a little film that Greenpeace produced about the current plight of the sea turtles.  This reminded me that even though we're in the grip of this global pandemic and our focus is very much on getting through it, all those other worrying issues like climate change & polluted oceans don't go away.

So this week, I'm being mindful of the sea turtles!

 I did very little drawing for this exercise as I wanted to keep the design simple.  The bulk of my time went into the HOW part of the process.  Flicking through other photos I developed a colour palette from what I'd seen throughout the temple, which included the pale blue & the rich terracotta that remains on the relief of the turtle.

This week I chose to have the outline for the background in a different colour to that of the turtle.  You'll notice that I have left an unstitched space?  This is because I've mapped out where the turtle is going to be placed & I want to cut down & use some of this golden mustard as part of the body of the turtle, so I didn't really want lines stitched through it!

This is an example of the planning ahead I need to do as I start in on a project.

 It's hard to see, but there's a turtle stitched in there!!  Here's how the cutting back went...

And here is the completed 'Hatties Turtle'. I'm delighted with him.
This project gave me a good opportunity to use some of my map fabric.  I love maps!  I have very little map fabric, so I use it sparingly!  It is ideal for a project like this, even if it isn't a map of Egypt or Somalia! It still makes a reference to travel. I hummed & haahed over using the sky fabric as my blue.  There was a temptation to use a more solid colour fabric.  However, the blotchyness of the sky fabric replicates the little slivers & patches of colour left in the original relief carving, so it works for me.  What an enjoyable way to spend my studio time!  I sincerely hope that you are all keeping well & have your own projects to focus on during this period of uncertainty & stress.  Take care!