For my March project I chose Big Leaf Maple (Acer macrophylum) which begins to leaf out at the beginning of the month. I'm always a bit anxious around Spring because this is when it starts to get unpleasantly warm (for me that's over 70F!) and I know that soon it will be Summer and the rain will stop. But Spring is really a special time of year in this area - the Winter-dormant plants are all starting to leaf out and grow, the Summer-dormant plants are still actively growing, and the wildflowers begin their incredible flower display. It's one big swirling explosion of green and flowers!
So I went out to a local hillside where I found my maple leaf beginning to unfurl. It was a translucent green tinged with a coppery color - I used these colors in my outline. The circle in the middle that is half yellow and half white is representational of the Vernal Equinox - half of the Moon and half of the Sun for the balancing of day and night. To create this I strung the beads and sewed them down into a spiral shape.
While walking on the trail looking for my maple leaves I came across trillium (Trillium chloropetalum) and gooseberry (Ribes menziesii) blooming in the woods! The trillium is an incredible woodland bloomer on a stalk about 18" high with three huge leaves topped with three sepals and three petals. I stitched these on the left of the leaf. I just included the sepals and the petals, which can be white, maroon, or rose-pink. These are depicted as you would see them looking straight down at the flower. The gooseberry is a thorny shrub and the flowers hang down from the branches like little fuchsias. The gooseberry flower is on the right-hand side - the flowers are smaller than the size I stitched them. I used different bead shapes and thread for this one and I think it looks pretty realistic. I was actually a bit surprised by how realistic it turned out! So there's my project - inspired by a Springtime woodland!
Note: This entry says posted by robin michelle but it's Jill's March project. I just posted for her because she was having computer problems.
7 comments:
I love your design, colors, the fabric is cool to.
Thanks for sharing!
I love that all the elements of your piece represent something you see in the woodlands, and isn't it nice that focusing on creating the scene in art makes us more observant?! Your choice of background fabric is perfect! Very pretty!
you really pay attention to the smallest details and colors when choosing your leafs and flowers. i especially like the colors and the shape of the maple leaf. very well done!
It's lovely, Jill! What a gorgeous fabric you picked for the background too :-)
This is lovely! I especially like the gooseberry bloom -- adding the trilium and the gooseberry bloom makes it seem like we're right in the forest with you, seeing what you see.
Yes! It is quite realistic... I guessed the trilium, but not the gooseberry (as I'm not familiar with them)... I too suffer when the temps exceed 70... so for me the spring is the perfect time of year. I love how you've shown that!!!
Robin A.
Thank you everyone so much for your comments! I'm so glad that I've been able to convey some of the feeling of the seasons as I experience them through my projects!
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