Saturday, December 13, 2008

Purple Mountain Majesty, A Tribute to Bob


Purple Mountain Majesty measures 17.25" X25" and is a tribute to Bob, my dear father in law who passed away this last October. It is inspired from a photo I took in Estes Park, Colorado overlooking Long's Peak. Would you believe this is the view from my Mother and Father In Law's kitchen window? I think it is absolutely sensational. The sky is painted with acrylics and the clouds are made of fiber fill with tulle overlay. The mountains consist of various hand dyed cottons that have been layered with bits of teased dryer sheets to similate snow along the crevices. Leaves were fiber etched. Machine appliqued and quilted with Superior trilobal polyester and metallic threads. Edges were finished with a black binding. This was an exercise in trying to convey depth across various stratas of foliage, mountains and clouds in a somewhat realistic manner. I am encouraged to revisit these images as I seem to recall a rather large herd of elk that came by one day and "bedded down" in the back yard!!! It was quite a spectacle as it was mating season and the bulls were jousting with one another. They have in the past traipsed through the yard but never the entire herd all at once. Somehow, I like to think these wild beasts were paying homage to Bob in their own way as if to say "Farewell, my friend. We will miss you."