Although this fragile mudbrick archway is now guarded by trees, it was once the entrance to a communal Square where criminals were displayed after justice had been meted out on them. At one time it was known as the Arch Of Ears, which was derived from the practice of hanging the dismembered ears of the criminals in the archway for display. Gruesome.
This history must have something to do with the odd mix of tranquility & unrest that I felt when passing by. It was a place where ghosts might wander.
On a visual level, there is something dramatic & spellbinding about the contrast of the lime green leaves of new growth & the crumbling decay of the eleventh century public entrance. Therefore it was important that I capture these two characteristics in this week's art project.
After some preliminary drawing & note taking I'd made a decision that I wanted to keep this piece as symmetrical as possible, so I measured & drew my design straight onto the backing cloth. I then began to cover all my drawn lines by building up the background. I wanted a variety of greens to represent the differing shades as light penetrated through the trees.
A little texta added a tad more depth!
The final outcome includes a hand drawn mirror-image pattern of ear-like shapes!
I'm very pleased with how this looks & I enjoyed working with paper, although I feel stitching around the edge of the structure, which I had to do to secure it, detracts from the lovely edges. I did wonder about softening the paper with some coloured pencil, but there is something eye-catching & engaging about the stark white in the centre of all that texture & colour, so for now, it stays. The white does look very new & perhaps it's important to remember that once upon a time this was a new gate with many people eager to walk through it. Both the present & past seen together in this art project....I like that!.
No comments:
Post a Comment