Gloria Loughman Landscape Workshop: Part 2

Student WIP

Participants of this workshop came with varying levels of "preparedness" and expectations. The course outline required that each student bring a photo or a sketch of a sunset scene or a simple landscape. From this photo we would derive the basic design of our class piece, as well as use it as a colour guide.

At the end of the two day workshop, students were at various levels of progress. Below are a few samples of some of the participant's work after completion of the course.

Giselle, (below) who seemed to have a clear understanding of the direction she would take her piece, came to the workshop with a tree that she had fused and thread painted separately in advance of the class. The tree was later placed on top of the fused tiles and became the focal point of her piece.

Here Giselle's tree is loosely placed over top of the tiles. It will be fused into place permanently once all of the background tile work is completed.

In her moonscape, (below), Carol has used a tiny scrap of dyed and shredded batting and has floated it in front of a full moon to successfully represent a wispy cloud..

A paper pattern of the foreground lies over top of Carol's completed night sky.

Faye and Eryl (next 2 photos) came prepared with their own hand dyed fabrics ready to create a sunset (or sunrise) scene. These two ladies were extremely efficient and focused and therefore, made great progress in class. Both had their tiles fused and stitched into place before the workshop ended.

With tiles fused and stitched into place, Faye has started working on the silhouette of a tree, which will become the focal point of her piece.

The reflection in the water that Eryl has created in the foreground mirrors for the sky perfectly.

In her own work, Gloria Loughman uses diamonds and triangles as well as squares and rectangles. However, to keep things a little more straightforward and simplified, the majority of students chose to work with either square or rectangular tiles.

Quita placed her rectangular tiles on the diagonal. This creates a very different effect from tiles that are placed in straight rows.

Deanna has chosen to use her square tiles on the diagonal as well.

The next two photos are of my LIP (Landscape in Progress).  I took this photograph at the "Bambouserie", a bamboo forest in the south of France many years ago. At the time, I had hopes of creating a quilted landscape, but because I had no experience with this type of design and no real idea of the direction that I wanted my quilt to take, I left it alone, but never quite forgot about it. Since then, there have been several textile artists whose work I have admired, Gloria Loughman being one of them. After having bought her book "Radiant Landscapes" in 2010, I was inspired to work up several design layouts, with the one pictured below becoming the basis of this workshop piece. It is designed as a triptych and I am currently working on the center portion of the photograph.

Because I chose to work with monochromatic colours,  working with a black and white print of my bamboo forest gave me a better guide for choosing values.

My work so far, with my colour palette of pre-fused fabric tiles on either side.

Working on this landscape is a great creative learning experience for me and I am having lots of fun playing with it. I do hope to finish this piece some day, but right now there is more pressing and (quite frankly) more exciting stitching in my immediate future, like baby quilts and other baby "accoutrements". Granniehood is on the horizon for me and this Gran E is seriously inspired and prepared to fulfill all stitching requirements.