Townscape Reflections

"Townscape Reflections" by Hilary.

This is Hilary's piece on the subject of "Townscape". It is an applique panel under painted Lutrador. Hilary tells me it was "based on a photograph I took in Chester. I am looking into a shop window at a display with the black and white buildings across the street reflected in the glass."

It's in the bag.

"It's in the bag" by Hilary Martin

This is Hilary's piece. It is appliqué, machine stitched and quilted.

Filling in the Blancs

Well, my piece is finally finished. Sorry it is so late. The quilt is slightly distorted in this photos since I still haven't stitched the back facings - they are pinned in place.

I took the theme quite literally and looked for words and phrases using "blanc". I came up with blancmange, Sauvignon Blanc and, of course, Mont Blanc. The mountain has a tunnel running through it so looked at photos of the entrance from the French side. This has a strange canopy which I have shown. Funnily enough, in my searches I came across a wine shop called "Filling in the Blancs". Hence the addition of the wine bottle and glasses.

A mixture of cottons and sheer fabrics appliquéd together. Free machine embroidery.

Architecture - City Sunset

City Sunset

This is Hilary's piece for the Architecture theme. It is called "City Sunset", starting life as a photo of the Liverpool skyline. The colours are inspired by the paintings of Ton Schulten.

The 39 steps

I must admit that I really do like the most recent of the versions of this story. The original book was written by John Buchan in 1915, and is very much of it's time. The book and the older versions (starring Robert Donat, Kenneth More and then Robert Powell) all have a weak and rather insignificant female character. The latest version with Rupert Penry-Jones, has a rather feisty female character which gives a really interesting twist to the story.

For those not familiar with the plot, the main character, Richard Hannay becomes embroiled in foiling a pre-first world war German spy ring. He is chased around the wilds of Scotland by the spies in a car. They also use an aeroplane. In the book, the phrase "39 steps" refers to an area on the coast where there are 39 steps leading down to a harbour. 

Chatting to my daughter, she pointed out the similarity of the chase by aeroplane to that portrayed in the Hitchcock film "North by Northwest". Interestingly, Alfred Hitchcock also directed the earlier 1935 version starring Robert Donat.

For my version, I used images handstitched onto sheer voiles, with bondawebbed trees and running figure made from dyed scrim. The green background is painted fabric, whilst the remaining fabrics are accidentally dyed dye-catchers.

Inspired By....finally

At least I'm getting LESS behind!! I've wanted to do this one for a few years. In fact...had already started it and got distracted by other things for a bit. But this theme afforded me the opportunity to complete it and enjoy it all over again.  I was inspired by Victor Vaserely.  This was a significant moment in my artistic journey because it was the first time I FULLY realized just how much I appreciate other kinds of art!! I saw a presentation of his work (online) in an old church. The juxtaposition of pop art on ancient stone walls was so intriguing. Then I found I loved his work on its own. Found his two zebras next.  Now I do love black and white so these were especially delightful to me.  Then I found Markab which he did about 1956 or '57.  It isn't as much of an optical illusion as some of his other work but it grabbed my attention big time. So I decided to render it in fabric (at least as much of it as I could in 12"X12").  Markab in Arabic means "something to ride". And since finding Vaserely opened up a whole new vista for me, I titled this piece "Enjoying the Ride".  As for the process, let's just say I'm extremely glad someone invented those really sharp and tiny scissors!! The white fabric was stitched onto black Kona and then trimmed according to how much black was to show through.  Required a bit of patience but I'm happy with the results.  It still needs a binding (which will be in black Kona) but at least it is done enough to post.

Inspired by Victor Vaserely

"Enjoying the Ride"



Victor Vaserely's Markab - 1956 (or '57)

Oil on Canvas

Now to start DREAMING!!!! 

Inspired by Ton Schulten

I used a photograph taken on holiday in Leicestershire of the local landscape. Ton Schulten's work really appeals to me with his use of colours.