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Sunday, February 19, 2012

“I See the Moon” begun


I have just started work on a new piece that I am calling “I See the Moon.” You can see the beginning of the painting – the black branches on white fabric – above. When I was a child, my parents used to sing me a bedtime song that went:

I see the moon, the moon sees me
Shining down through the big oak tree
Please let the moon that shines on me
Shine on the ones that I love

This was a ritual I repeated with my own children. When I sang it to them, I hoped that they would feel as safe and secure as I did as a child, when my parents sang it to me as they tucked the covers up under my chin. 

I had the idea for this quilt in my mind’s eye for some time. A few days ago, while waiting in the car pickup line a my daughter’s school, I shot a photo of a wonderful post oak silhouetted against a beautiful winter sky through the windshield of my car:


I love the branches of post oak trees; they are wonderfully curvy and they look so alive, almost electrified. I took a slice of the photo and superimposed a moon shape on top to start getting a feel for my composition, which is going to be 24" wide by 60" long.


After I traced the branches, I blew up my traced drawing and printed it out in tiles (sections) and taped them together to make the pattern. I placed PFD (prepared for dyeing) cotton on top, and now I am painting the branches from my drawing. 

My plan is to paint the branches first, and then to use shades of blue for the background, from a medium-light blue at the bottom to a very dark blue at the top. I think I will use a metallic white pearl paint on the moon, with a little detail for the craters and shadows on it. I want it to be very simple, clean and graphic. 

9 comments:

  1. I have a Blue Moon quilt in the making too! It is for my granddaughter, Azaria. She was born o Dec 30, 2008 on a blue moon. :) I have a picture of that blue moon. Love your posts!

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  2. It figures that *you* could find a way to make the dreaded wait in the carpool line into a productive, creative experience! Looks great so far.

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  3. Each morning I awake to a kukui tree branches framing the sunrise on the ridge behind my home. It has been calling to me to quilt it. Now you have pointed a way to attain that quilt. Thank you so much. I am looking forward to seeing your moon quilt. =!=

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  4. I can't wait to see how you do your quilt. I took a similar photo with the mood by the trees, so it is dark shadows, with dark blue and the moon, was thinking it would make a nice art piece.

    Debbie

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  5. like your photo and your plan for the fabric / quilt

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  6. like your photo and your plan for the fabric / quilt

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  7. Nothing about your new project sounds simple! I enjoyed reading the process, and knowing you, it will be another phenomenal piece when finished!
    Renee

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  8. spectacular... you could stop right now and it would be perfect.

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