I woke up this morning with my “gotta-get-in-the-studio” impulses fully charged. I was anxious to pick up where I had left off yesterday. (Ony a walk out to the driveway to pick up the newspaper and pouring a cup of coffee came first.)
I say this just to let you know that what has interested me from the beginning, seeing this story take shape and seeing all the parts fit together, is pretty far along. It’s exhilarating! But this evening, I’m going to go back in time to earlier in the week and the creation of the seagulls, just to bring us up to this point.
A reminder of my overall vision: A family in a little boat, rocking in the waves, in the water near a beach, with seagulls overhead. But, more importantly, I am working out at each stage the issue of representational-but-not-real and things depicted as what they are and as symbols at the same time.
My family’s story is placed within ideas about the American story. To do that, I am introducing elements that suggest an American flag into the picture elements, without actually showing a flag. The birds contain the stars.
I had a reference image, a cartoon-like illustration of a flock of seagulls, depicted as white shapes with a darker shadow within them. That’s what inspired me to create the gull shapes then use that shadow area to introduce the stars.
I drew the bird shapes onto muslin I had prepped with a wash of white latex paint and water. My plan was to put these in the sky as raw-edge appliqued shapes. So, my paper drawings are cutting patterns.
I prepped to paint some blue yardage. I am mixing cerulean blue + pthalo blue + black to create a deep, interesting blue. I mixed the colors right on my vinyl drop cloth, and painted the fabric loosely: brush dipped in water, then in the paints, then a little more water.
While that dried, I cut some star stencils. By cutting a small section of stars, with the spaces between them not in a straight line, I can stamp-and-repeat this patterns by tucking the stars into the blank space of the previous batch of stars.
Here’s a detail of a bird in the sky.
Already I am seeing contrasts that interest me. The sky is monotype printed on shear fabric—very light and watercolor-like. The sand is opaque muslin. The figures are photo transfers in black and white. And the boat and flag-stripe-waves are patterned muslin.
And, of course, I am interested in this family. It is my family. This awkward little girl squinting into the sun is little me. As I am printing fabric and sewing shapes, I am making parts that will help me to tell a story.
It’s the story that wakes me up eager to do more.
. . . .
America —as I am sure you have noticed— is still in a rocky place. Amazingly, we got through this week without completely capsizing. But each day feels precarious. All of us, every day, do what we can to get us back on course.
. . . .
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
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