Commission

Finished this piece a few weeks go, but held off on posting it as it was to be a surprise retirement gift. My friend Kathy, a master kindergarten teacher, took a sabbatical last year and traveled with her husband Bryan all over North America. One of their favourite spots was the Watchman Trail, in Zion National Park, Utah. Bryan supplied me with some great photos on which to base the piece, commissioned by a group of friends to mark Kathy's retirement this month.

The piece measures 20" x 16". The three photos show three altitudes in the park: The Watchman itself, in the highest position, then an intermediate altitude with Kathy and Bryan walking the trail, and finally the surging water at the bottom of the canyon. I began with a hand-painted background of cotton, then fused the photos, printed with an ink-jet printer onto specially-prepared cotton, into place.

 

I then added stitching to define some of the shapes in the photos, and extended the shapes into the background, trying to draw the viewer's eye around the piece and integrate them with each other and with the background. Aquarelle pencil added shading and colour. Each photo was outlined with a copper-coloured satin stitch, with a small frame around the focal point, the couple walking on the trail.

A wooden floating frame in the same copper colour finishes the piece, which I hope will remind Kathy of her special trip, of her special occasion, and of her very special group of friends.