Our visit to 'The Gardens Of Lofty Paradise' happily coincided with the flowering of Celosia, also known as Cockscomb.
They were stunning individually, but when mass planted...they were EXQUISITE! With their rich colour & abundant ruffles my breath was quite literally taken away by their dramatic presence in the gardens. Therefore it was obvious that I dedicate this week's art project to the exercise of trying to represent their impact in some way.
I began with drawing. Surrounded by my photos I drew quick linear drawings of their shapes & ruffles. Once I had a pleasing selection I started putting them together & came up with a repeat pattern that I was quite pleased with. However, I'd failed to take into consideration that I had a limited 20cm square to produce this outcome in & what I'd just designed was not going to work in such a small space. Back to drawing & this time I drew bigger, which gave me a more realistic sense of what was possible with a sewing machine & my time frame.
Out came the view finder, which I moved around the page, until I settled on a slightly abstract combination of lines that interested me.
My fabric choices included an old shirt that had an embroidered motif across the front. I wanted to use both the right & wrong side of this fabric (in different pieces of course) so placement required a bit of careful wiggling. I also had a strip of green fabric that I had heavily hand stitched with kantha stitch. It had been intended for another project but wasn't needed in the end, so has been hanging around for over a year. Not any more...it was also carefully pinned in amongst the layers. Sewing the design lines in took time as I wanted those curvy lines to look curved & not jagged!
Before long it was time to cut back. Here's how it progressed...
I am very pleased with this outcome & part of that pleasure is in the fabric choices I made. Regular followers will notice that I have used my 'pebble' stamp again for the background fabric. Using two sides of the same fabric for the flower bodies has given each a slightly different texture whilst maintaining a consistent colour palette. It's hard to tell in the photo, but the fabric in the ruffles is raw silk so has a fabulous sheen. Whilst I don't view this as a potential design for future use, it is a very meaningful little piece to me, and with the addition of my shirt, it's personal. It certainly evokes the memory of seeing those flowers in that special place. That's the response I wanted myself to have, so this is a success!
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