Springtime Chickadees
I've been messing around with some new ideas the past few days.
I've been messing around with some new ideas the past few days.
This piece began as a gelatin plate print of chokecherrie leaves. I was inspired by the spring green colors out my window. 
I painted some Tyvek with yellow, blue, and red pigments to get a brownish shade. This was reverse appliqued to the gelatin leaf print. Next, I stitched loosely around the leaf prints, outlining them - just enough stitching to help the viewer recognize the leaf shapes. I did not want the stitching to overpower the delicate details in the leaf prints.
I painted some Tyvek with yellow, blue, and red pigments to get a brownish shade. This was reverse appliqued to the gelatin leaf print. Next, I stitched loosely around the leaf prints, outlining them - just enough stitching to help the viewer recognize the leaf shapes. I did not want the stitching to overpower the delicate details in the leaf prints.
Lastly, I screen printed some chickadee prints onto some beige hand dyed fabric. After fusible web was applied to the back, these were cut out and placed on the branches. I covered the whole thing with parchment paper and used my hand held Rowenta iron to carefully fuse the birds, while also melting the Tyvek to create an interesting texture to the bark.
I am not sure, but this piece seems kind of dull to me. I am not thrilled with the colors, but think it might be successful done in fall colors. Or maybe something completely unnatural. It has been a good exercise for me. Always interesting to find out whether or not something looks as good in real life as it does in my head as an idea.
You deserve a lot of credit for attempting this piece. I'm not an artist, so I'm in no position to judge, but from my observation, it has good beginnings and the context is good. I think that the green leaves would benefit from more variations in the green. Perhaps the brown limbs as well. I think that you should not give up on this, though, because this has potential to be a "Wow" piece. Just my 2 cents, and I hope that you don't mind. I struggle, too, with knowing what my work needs and doesn't need. It's so hard to be your own critic.
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