When a home falls apart, where does everybody land?
If you survive and look back can you make sense of it?
Exploring these concepts is what motivated me to create From The Place Where We Landed in 2018. This work was recently juried into a show in South Carolina. So, as I took it down from the shelf and packed it up for shipping, I had a chance to look at the work again, and remember creating it.
There were several specific things about this work that were especially interesting to me.
Altered Photos: The house image was printed commercially on cotton from an image I created. I began with a very small portion of a photo I discovered in an old magazine, scanned, rearranged and manipulated in Photoshop. Some of the rearranging of the house parts was done in PhotoShop and some was done by manually rearranging parts after the fabric had been printed.
Contrasts: I liked the contrast between the photographic reality of the house and the different reality of hand printed fabrics (the foreground rocks and the tree trunk.)
The character: The little girl was created as a manual photo transfer with gel medium from a photo I took, with layers of collage and painting over it. I wanted her to function as a symbol more than a particular girl.
Transparent Stencils: Finally, I remember stenciling on the leaves across the top of the work. I was pleased with the variety in their transparency. It makes me respond to them as elements of change and time, rather than simply realistic leaves.
Palette: Finally, I remember the sense of discovery I had in creating the palette for the yellow sky. It’s mix of yellow plus a touch of black, then mixed into varying amounts of white. I had not used this kind of neutral much before and I liked it a lot.
When I have shown this work in the past and spoken to people viewing it, I have been amazed at the varied life experiences it represents to those encountering the work. I had in mind metaphorical breaking apart of a home. But I’ve had some wonderful conversations with people who had experienced loss of a home from fire or storms and related the concept of landing safely from those experiences to these quilt images.
I’m happy to have the opportunity to exhibit From the Place Where We Landed in the Fractures and Repair exhibit. If you are nearby I hope you’ll be able to see the exhibit.
Fractures and Repair – a juried exhibit
Thornback Contemporary Art Gallery
Exhibiting January 16 – February 15, 2026
Opening Reception Friday, February 6 6-8pm
https://www.thornbackgallery.com
Thornback Gallery is located in the Lofts of Greenville
201 Smythe Street Greenville, SC 29611
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I hope you will also mark your calendars for the upcoming Artist Studio Tours in my hometown of DeLand, Florida
STUDIO TOUR – IN DELAND, FLORIDA
Saturday and Sunday, March 7-8 2026 10am – 5pm
Visit local artists’ studios and see how they work. Information about the artists and map of studio locations: www.artstours.org
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For all of us: focus each day on the good that needs to be done in the world.
Be part of doing it.
Thank you for reading. I always enjoy questions and comments.
--Bobbi
How I keep in touch:
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