Is Abstract a State of Mind????

I'm not really sure but I'm certainly there at the moment. I think it is a break from everything being so exact. I did, however, find out that it is not as easy as it might look at first. But now I'm just having a blast in the studio playing with all kinds of things.

So, I've moved on (for the time being) from flowers to trees. Below are my first two attempts. Didn't start out to do a seasonal thing but fabric would catch my eye and I'd start playing with it. And I've always loved trees anyway so this seems like a good fit. For me, trees (more than flowers) evoke a visceral response. Some make me happy, some make me sad, some bring on a pensive attitude. You get the picture (no pun intended!)

My first tree is Autumn Beckons. The "ground" and "hill" are from a breakdown printing class I did a couple of summers ago. I LOVED the fabric from that class. This, sadly is my last bit of those pieces.......how sad. All the fabrics in this tree are my own hand-dyed fabrics.

Autumn Beckons

The next one could easily be the tree outside my studio window. Except that it is a bright sunny day here today. Still cold and white but at least sunny. This one is called Winter Solitude. It reminds me of one of my favorite Ansel Adams prints of this one tree out in the middle of seemingly nowhere. It seems at the same time to be lonely and content. Strange but there you have it! The background for this piece are hand-dyed grays that I cut into strips and wove together. One has a bluish cast and the other a purple-ish cast. The difference is very subtle but adds a bit of depth and interest instead of just one big gray piece. I think the mottled effect is sort of crystaline and cold feeling. The tree and snow are all from my commercial black and white collection.

You guys know how I feel about Serendipity. Well.......I didn't even realize it until I put the piece up on my design wall to take a photo. There is a shadow of the tree on the left side on the ground that was a natural effect of the hand dyed gray fabric!!! Cool, yes???

Winter Solitude

Have a few more ideas of abstract trees to work on in the coming week! So, check back in later to see what appears!