Starting the Fused Collage Inspired by Petroglyph Canyon

I am working on my Teflon covered ironing table.  The chosen fabrics have been cut in very long tapered strips and are being fused to black cotton lawn, which is very light weight.  These are all fabrics I had on hand and most already had Mistyfuse on the backside.  I did print some petroglyphs on some of these fabrics in purple ink, but the other fabrics came right out of the leftover fabric stash.  I am already loving it!

Daily Mixed Media Postcards - June 23-30

More Fabrics Inspired by Petroglyph Canyon

Petroglyph Canyon Inspirations

 We made several late spring trips to nearby Petroglyph Canyon with family members.  This is located on BLM land in the Pryor Mountain foothills. 

 I am always inspired by this place, and I return again and again to these colors and textures in my work.  I sorted through my hand dyed, hand painted, and hand printed fabrics for these colors and textures.  I hope to begin a series of work with these colors and textures and fused collage.

 These are some of the fabrics I have pulled so far.

A Few More Tall Bearded Iris

Apollo's Robe

 Ada Marie

 Sail Master

 Rose Teall

Shoptalk

Why I Plant Iris

 Purple Pepper

 Python's Parasol

 Ride the Tiger

Wrapped in Raspberry

Why do I grow iris?

1.  The deer generally do not eat iris.  This is one of the few flowering plants I can enjoy that the deer do not devour.

2.  Iris are drought tolerant.  We do not have city water or a well.  We haul our own water from a water supply station in a tank on our pick-up truck.  We conserve water and this means we don't want a lawn to water, nor do we want landscape plants that need to be watered during the dry summers.  I have been able to get by with watering iris the first summer to get them established.  After that, they are on their own!

3. Iris are hardy in our sub zero winters.

4.  Iris are resistant to wildfires.  There have been two major wildfires since we moved to this area.  Neighbors within 1/4 mile have lost homes both times.  We have been evacuated both times.  After that experience, we decided to call in a fire expert to evaluate our home's potential for wildfires.  It was recommended (and we followed the recommendation) for us to remove all junipers from within 200 feet of our house.  We have had probably 30 junipers and Ponderosa pines removed from our place in the past few years.   Dry native grasses are also a wildfire danger.  I wanted to eliminate those, as well.  In their place, I have planted over 800 varieties of iris!  

5.  Iris are beautiful. 

Tall Bearded Iris Keep on Coming!

 Slovak Prince

 Southwest Tattooed Lady

 Starburst

 Straight Up

Subtle Beauty

Tall Bearded Iris Revere

 The tall bearded iris are filling the yard with color.  This one is a real stand out, called Revere.

Daily Mixed Media Mail Art - June 17 - 22

More Tall Bearded Iris

 Unknown

 Jungle Shadows

 Unknown Yellow Historic

 Seakist

Secret Melody

Tall Bearded Iris

 Jennifer Rebecca

 Zepherina

 Unknown

 Vibrations

Seeun in Beleevun

Garden Visitor

While tidying up the yard, recently, I discovered this unusual snake beneath a bucket.  I had to do a bit of research to determine what type of snake it is.  I found it on the Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks website and identified it as a Coluber constrictor.  I believe it is a soon to be Mama snake - based on the three lumps near the tail.  Apparently, this snake eats mice and bugs, so I tried not to disturb it.  No idea if it will stick around or move on......

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coluber_constrictor

Memorial Bouquet

My uncle recently passed at age 89.  His memorial service was held in Bozeman, and since we were driving, I felt like I could bring a bouquet from my garden.  My aunt always grew iris until she moved into Assisted Living, so I knew she would appreciate this display.

Storm Cloud

While visiting my friend Joan, we watched this storm cloud move in.  We don't see them like this at my place, since we live in amongst the trees and have sandstone cliffs to our east and north.  There was nothing blocking the cloud view from Bridger!

Joan's Iris Garden

 Recently, I visited a friend's garden.  Several years ago, I gave her some iris rhizomes when I was dividing what was already planted here at my home when we moved in (back in 2003).  She planted the rhizomes and has a beautiful garden in Bridger, Mt.  These iris are all "Historic" - meaning they are older varieties.  I have not been able to actually identify most of them, but I believe the one above is called "City of Lincoln".  It had been discarded in the ravine below our house, where it thrived.  I dug them up and tried them up near the house.  They have proliferated in Joan's garden.

Mixed Media Daily Postcards - June 9 - 16

Arilbred Iris

 Burrah Sahib

 Khyber Pass

 Prairie Thunder (above and a clump of Prairie Thunder below)

Scotch Gold

They say these iris are the inspiration for many of the designs and colors found in Turkish rugs and fabrics.