BLOWING BUBBLES

Blowing Bubbles

2004
63" x 42.5"

fiber reactive dyes and textile paints discharge and overdye painting brush, silk screen and stamp prints, spatter glass and mother of pearl beads variegated rayon and quilting threads drop cloth with five seams machine and hand quilted hand embellished

BLOWING BUBBLES began its life as a drop cloth for my work in painting and printing panels of cotton for my art quilts. After many months of service I noticed a distinct and workable composition developing. Next, I discharge-painted circles, overdyed the piece, reworked with discharge and overdyed yet again. Finally, the three black circles were silkscreened with textile paints.

The discharged circles are hazy and look rather floaty to me, thus the title. The slides and photos are NOT out of focus! The way I painted the circles created the misty and sketchy effect on the cloth.

Inside each square that was created in the machine quilting process, I hand quilted circles to add yet another layer of circles bubbling over the surface. The mother-of-pearl beads add the final element of floating circles. This is the third drop cloth quilt I have completed this summer (2004), and I am really enjoying the painting process for its own sake. These pieces have inspired me to continue working on whole cloth paintings, and there are currently about fifteen in process! Quite a change from my collaged work to date!