Challenge Piece

Last Saturday we had the unveiling of the challenge pieces at our TAODA meeting.  Here's mine:

The challenge was to create a hanging work, based on or inspired by music.  The original inspiration for my piece was "Helplessly Hoping" by Crosby Stills Nash.  You'd never guess it by looking at it!  It sort of took on a life of its own and went in its own direction.  The only thing resembling the song is the harlequin costume.  The figure was going to be a man but when I added hair he became a little boy.  So my initial title of "Hoping" was not going to work.  A couple of artists at the meeting suggested "First Love" and I like that so I've decided to combine the two titles and call it "Hoping: First Love".

The large tree in the foreground, and the trees in the background are made from the gray silk I dyed last week.  The face on the tree and the heart faces are paperclay.  The boy is cloth with needlesculpted features.

The background was created in a process called confetti landscape quilting.

"Hoping: First Love"