I guess I'm workng on a series?

Much like  "Swirls" from February of this year "Evening by the pond" uses a combination of materials to develop a very textural composition.

"Evening by the pond" was also inspired by a piece of lace paper. The paper lace I made is colored with Tsukineko inks. See my Blog post from 2/11/2025 for more information about paper lace making.  The paper lace and other elements are set on layers of fabrics I've hand dyed, and marked with paints, inks and makers. Also added are scraps of upholstery fabrics and trims. These layers are machine quilted to a backing and cotton batting. What looks like the base gray fabric is really one of two layers of that fabric.  The edges of the bottom gray piece is turned to the back and stitched to the backing fabric. In this way I was able to make a clean binding but still have that raw edge on the viewable top.

Added embellishments include. 

Embroidery and silk ribbon for the plants.  Vintage blue embroidery edging, yarn and trims for the water details and shoreline. Colored cotton batting, Angelina fibers and embroidery for the sky.

Like "Swirls" this piece is attached to 16" X 12" artist board which was painted brown.

One more quick note.

In getting ready for this post something just bothered me about the paper lace.  With the piece finished and in a photo I noticed a dark blue piece that was just to distracting. Luck for me it was easy to remove.  The thing is it reminded me how important it is to stand back a view your work.  Sometimes what works great close up really doesn't work at a different angle or distance.  So prop your work up and step away once in a while.

 Before. 

See the blue square in the center.

 No square. 

Much lighter looking.

I hope you have enjoyed this piece.

Thanks for stopping by!

MaryEllen