Monday, March 12, 2018

Nakoma Warrior Princess

Nakoma, Warrior Princess is a whole cloth painted quilt measuring 22"X 23" and was completed on March 12, 2018. She was inspired from curiosity of my own roots. While I have always thought that I was predominantly German and Spanish, a recent DNA test from my maternal aunt revealed that we also had a considerable amount of Central American Indian as well. Born and raised in New Mexico, I had only memories of the Hispanic culture in  my family. This newfound knowledge made me wonder about the native american side thereby prompting me to create a commemorative piece of my long lost roots. Nakoma was based on a photo taken on a visit to the Ohkayawingeh tribe in Northern New Mexico during the celebration of the Feast of John the Baptist, their local patron saint. The original photo has been included at the bottom of this post for reference. I have taken several creative liberties in that I wanted
her to have her own face and personality. When I first began sketching her, this little face emerged that would not be denied. I also opted to change her clothing style giving her a white leather shawl and a velvet turquoise top with a velvet red pleated skirt. In truth, the photo only served as a model. If this little girl was going to be born, she would have her own voice and identity. Once the sketch was completed, it was transferred onto fabric and painted with acrylic textile paints. Nakoma meaning Little Warrior was quilted with Glide thread on my new JUKI TL-2000Qi  sewing machine. What a joy!!! This machine is a no frills, straight stitch and free motion only, industrialized quilting machine. I absolutely loved working on it. The background was quilted in a triangular pattern to symbolize a geometric native american style. As you can see, the two really are quite different and for that, I am truly happy! Thank you for stopping by. It is so good to be blogging again. For now, it's back to the studio for more fun. Who knows what will find its way into my next piece! Wishing you a happy and creative day!

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