Recent Commission

It's always so humbling when you get a call for a commissioned piece of art.  Even more so when the call comes from a fello artist that you so admire! 

 

Cindy Cooksey contacted me with a quote she wanted me to use my calligraphy skills on. 

 

Here is the finished work. 

 Cindy provided some 'enticements' including the mixed silk hexagons & the fabric of the vase.  I cut the vase shape and used the same stencil that I used to create the background (using FW frosted white acrylic ink) I simply used black to mirror the flourishes. 

 

I was very happy with the placement in that it broke up the pattern & really gave it a nice depth.

In this shot you can best see the French Knots coming down from the top.

Believe it or not; those leaves (using some hand dyed silk scraps) were the most difficult for me and the stem.  I find it hard in hand embroider keeping that really flat even stitching.

 

Here is the quote Cindy wanted.  I used my own handwriting as it best echoed the swirls I feel; enjoining all the elements.

 I had machine stitched the bird shap first and then felt he needed more visual presense.  I had a ball with my Laura Wasilowsky hand dyed floss.  YUM!

 

You can see the white frost shimmer giving a ghost of a wing image there. 

 

I really love using stenicls to create quick, easy backgrounds.  When laying down ink I always go really light at first, then heavier in spots to give the illusion of depth.  The frosted inks add so much.  I typically dilute them a bit when I want that ghost image but keep the sparkle.

 

I was so nervous to give it to Cindy that I simply left it on my ironing board so she could look at it while I went to another room in the house.  That way if she hated she wouldn't feel that immediate pressure of me standing there like a happy kitten.  LOL

 

I'm happy to say she liked it. 

I enjoyed making it for her!

 

Happy Kittens to you!