Cynthia St. Charles Store

▼

Saturday, October 15, 2011

Auditioning Pebbles for the Beet Prints


Beach Pebbles from Homer, Alaska (above)
When I added the brown strip of hand dyed fabric beneath the group of three beet print panels, I conceived a plan to add some stone chips or pebbles along that line. I very often add tangible objects - metal, stones, etc. to my work. Looking through my stash of quilt sized rocks, I found only three types that I have sufficient quantity and are of the proper size.


Granite chips from Timberline Trail in the Beartooth Mountains of Montana. I think these are a bit oversized for the brown strip of fabric - I would prefer the stones not extend beyond the edges of the brown strip.

Petrified Wood chips from Tom Miner Basin, Montana. I am actually not sure I have enough of the petrified wood for the entire row. So, right now I am leaning strongly towards using the beach pebbles. I like the way their shape echoes the shape of the beets.
at

5 comments:

  1. JoanSaturday, October 15, 2011 at 10:21:00 AM MDT

    oh I like the petrified wood chips best (not that you asked). somehow they look more organic and slightly rough which seems to work well with your quilt. I've enjoyed watching your process of creating this quilt!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Virginia CrandallSaturday, October 15, 2011 at 4:30:00 PM MDT

    I agree with your thought process--the beach pebbles fit nicely and also their color blends well with the root area. The other choices are nice, too, but I'm sure you'll find another use for them! Cynthia, I was inspired by you to do gelatin printing a year ago and have produced some pretty good pieces, but I can't figure out how how your beet shapes come out so clearly and are enhanced by the white around them. Can you share your process somehow?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Cynthia St CharlesSunday, October 16, 2011 at 6:46:00 AM MDT

    I did not have enough of the petrified wood to do this piece. I ended up using the beach pebbles. Thanks for the feedback.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Cynthia St CharlesSunday, October 16, 2011 at 6:54:00 AM MDT

    Virginia, This post shows step by step how I did these gelatin prints

    http://cynthia-stcharles.blogspot.com/2011/07/making-vegetable-prints-with-gelatin.html

    It was dated July 27, 2011 in case you can't get the link to work.

    The key is placing the plants on the gelatin plate, then covering with something to remove the excess paint in the exposed areas while also pressing down on the plant to get a good impression of it. Then, remove everything and make the print. This is actually what I consider the second print, because the first one would be a stencil outline of the objects that are laying on the gelatin plate. I often use fabric to make a first stencil print. However, for the beet series, I used paper towels to remove the excess paint and only made one print each time.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Virginia CrandallSunday, October 16, 2011 at 2:56:00 PM MDT

    Thanks for the reply, Cynthia. I might have missed that post because I was on vacation, but I'll definitely check it out. I'll also be on the look-out for some smallish beets since I don't have a garden!!

    ReplyDelete