The Greenwood Project, Take 3

After two false starts on the foreground, I am pleased to present this tribute to Greenwood, our local historical museum. One of the difficulties with a commission is that you must meet the expectations of the client. I felt I had to do justice to the image of Greenwood, rather than using it as a jumping off point for my own whimsy.

Greenwood: Layers in Time,
mounted on painted gallery canvas

I stitched a dark grey line to delineate the shapes of the building and the trees, and then removed the stabilizer film with a hot iron. With the stitching line and the added trees, the upper half of the composition holds its own with the lower half. It is quite a trick to have a foreground fill more than half the canvas and yet be subordinate to the subject in the upper half.

Suggestion of flagstone path, script, scilla and circles

I was able to suggest the scilla by adding some stitching in blue and blue-violet rayon thread. I added a little texture to some of the layers by stitching small circles, and also referenced the rocks of the wall bordering the house with stitching. Some of the printed cotton features vintage text, suggesting the history of the house, dating back to 1732. The treatment of the foreground reminds me of my Walk in the Woods series from eight years ago.

Suggestion of rock wall

The quilt was finished with a backing and a facing in plain muslin. I tacked beige felt to the back of the quilt, and then glued the felt to a painted canvas and treated the quilt with a UV protectant. This is the first time I have painted the edges of the gallery canvas in colours that continue those of the quilt.

original inspiration photo

Fourteen canvases, each celebrating a part of Hudson's history, and each measuring a vertical 40 x 30, will be on display at the local community centre for the month of August. Even though this project took an inordinate number of hours, I am happy to have been included in the initiative, and look forward to seeing how the other artists handled their assigned themes. I will post photos of the exhibit once it is hung.