And one for me!

Now that I have finished the piece for my dad, I decided to pull out a piece I started on a few years ago. This is for me, that is if I can find room on a wall.
  No name yet but I'm sure I'll come up with one at some point.
The subject is a fairy in a woodland glen. Now that I have a better idea how to proceed, I can work on it till it's done.
So, here is the start {or should I say where I left off} of the woodland fairy.

Still a lot of work to do and first of all to sew down all that is in place, which is a lot more than what I remembered.
  I have also finished a project I wanted to complete from a different beginnings, and I changed a lot of that one which is a paper doll project {pictures to come later}. Along with the doll clothes I've been sewing for Lark, I also have been working on completing a baby project {a baby album, box for her clothes storage, more clothes, and a basket for her to sleep in}. She is only about 6" in size so she is tiny. It has let me have the fun of putting together a baby album with pictures of her, with Debbie Mum papers etc. I don't usually do babies, but this one is just to cute, and I really fell in love with her infectious grin. I'll post pictures of her set at a later time as well. Other then that, I have been doing the eternal sorting of papers etc. More then half way there now, with all of it, and am I glad, cause I hate sorting papers and old bills etc. This has been a productive beginning for this new year, even with the crazy weather, plowing one day and watching the snow melt the next. So onward to the next project, and who knows what that will be. lol.

Finished!

It's time to quit messing with the finished piece. Knowing when to quit is as important as doing the work. I know it's time to quit. Only years of artistic creations can give you the instinct that will tell you when to quit. That is why they say.... practice, practice, practice!
  I think this turned out to be a really great work of art, and I am not saying that to toot my own horn, but because I can honestly look at it and see what I was trying to express. If it had turned out differently, I would have said so. So please don't think badly of me because I express my opinion about what I have created. I try very hard to be honest in my assessment.
  "Racing A Tail Wind" is a piece of art done as a surprise for my father's service in WWII. The Martin Marauder bomber was a two engine plane used to carry bomb payloads to Germany. Like the B17, many came back with holes shot in them from flack,and bullet holes from German plane attacks. They stayed in the air when other planes didn't, bringing back the crew to fly another time.
  I've wanted to do this piece for sometime, but as I've said before I just didn't know how to go about it. Thankfully I didn't have a lot of errors in the trial and error period. I believe this to be something new, as I have not seen anything done quite like it before. The technique and combinations there of while simple, were not read about in any book etc. Perhaps only seeing it in person will bring out the differences, and they may be very subtle, to the naked eye.

 Whatever the case, I am done. It will be on it's way to the framers in a week or so. I hope you enjoy the piece and will let me know what you think.

Placing the highlights

And adding a bit to the clouds, and it really is coming right at you.
There is just a tiny bit more to do, but after these are glued down, I'm almost home.
  This project has been two years in the making, from concept, to cutting the fabric. I wanted to do something really special for my dad, that had not been done before. One he would enjoy looking at, and perhaps come to realize an artists road while not easy,often yields truly special works of art.

  This piece not only met that aspiration but exceeded it. I couldn't be more delighted with what I designed and created.

Racing A Tailwind

I titled my artwork "Racing A Tailwind", because it looks to me like that is what the three bombers are doing as they run in and out of billowing clouds. The piece is still not complete, but at these final stages of creation I never rush the work. You can overwork your art work that way, and ruin what you have done so far. Hard lesson to learn, but one that will save many a good piece of work.

It just can't get much better then this.

  

And then there were two.....

And one to go. I just finished the smallest of the Martin Marauders, a twin engine bomber, my father flew in as a bombarder in WWII. This is the next faze of the wall hanging I am working on as a gift for him.
  I still have one more to go, and then I can start laying them down permanently on the sky and clouds background. I get more excited as I finish each piece to this wall hanging. Having never done anything like this I can't wait to see it completed. Truly something very unique.

Go For It!

Sometimes you have something on the back burner that you just can't figure out how to do. Not enough info, lack of creativity, tired, or just plain overwhelmed by what you are trying to do.
  I have been trying to get at something for two years. A project that will be a present for my dad. Two years of struggling to figure out just how to do what I wanted to create. It has not been easy.
  Last year I got started doing the research, and that wasn't easy to find something really good in the way of pictures.I wanted WWII war planes, of one kind. What my dad was a bombardier and flew in during the war. But I did manage to find some. Then another big search for fabric. I didn't know yet just what it was going to look like. Ground at the bottom, sky at the top? All sky? So I collected about 20 or so fabrics of sky, clouds, whites and grays, grounds of rocks, trees etc. Also a number of grays and silvers, with and without prints, darks and lights and a lot of in-betweens. Then I got stalled out.
  Did I want just one large plane? Two, three, or a whole flight?
  This is the story of what turned into a two year long struggle deciding what to do and how to create it. There are no how-to books on this one, so it's all trial and error. You use what you have and do know, and create the rest as you go.
  Last winter I got the background done.

Doesn't look like much now but it really does in person.
  Then summer came and went and I didn't get much more done.
This past few months has seen a lot of work on the planes. I have almost completed the main bomber.

Six layers or so of fabric laid down one at a time, and the final highlights yet to be added after it's applied to the background and I have a plane.

This is what the drawing started out as and the highlights are taped in place so I don't lose or confuse them. Made of vinyl they would melt if I tried to iron them in place, so they will be glued in place after the main body is ironed in place on the background.
  I also decided on adding two other planes to the picture, and have them yet to do. But I have picked out the framing and {a beautiful 4" deep silver shadow box molding that will really bring your attention to this plane.
  There is a lot more work to do and more detailing that can only be done when this is laid down on the background.
  Needless to say, it's come a long way, baby!