The Dog's Breakfast

This week, the (non-existent) dog did not eat my homework; this week my homework looked like the (non-existent) dog's breakfast so I did not submit it.

This week we studied black and white photographs.  Our assignment was to shoot an evocative black and white portrait of someone, striving to capture through your lens some aspect of your model’s personality. Then, to deepen your understanding of the role of value and texture in your portrait, you will recreate it in a collage medium made from small pieces of newsprint (newspaper).

Obviously I disregarded the newsprint recommendation and decided to go with black and white fabrics.

I chose a photo of my husband:

I took this photo of him during our 25th wedding anniversary trip to Arizona.  This photo was taken in the Painted Desert.

I gathered my supplies:

traced the outline:

and began adding fabrics:

I have seen some spectacular fabric collages submitted by other students and they amaze me.  Mine amazes me by how amazingly awful it is.  I might try this technique again, but I probably not on a black and white portrait.

I thought about what I wanted to get out of this class -- to try new techniques and use them to further my current interests in quilting.  My current interest in quilting involves thread.  Lots and lots of thread.

I tried a new approach to this assignment that used ... wait for it... thread:

I transferred the photograph to fabric and then covered it with thread.  Lots and lots of thread.

I am in the process of binding this quilt and am pretty happy about the result.  I have seen this technique on quilts hanging in quilt shows and wondered if it wasn't cheating a bit.  After trying it myself, I realized that it is not cheating; there is definite skill and artistry involved in added the right colors and textures to enhance the photograph.

I may try fabric collage again.  I want to try Mary's technique:



Isn't that amazing?

I want to try David's technique, too.

I received good value for dollar with this class (the class was free, but still...).  I have learned about new techniques, learned new things about myself, made some interesting discoveries, and gained respect for those who work with different techniques than I do.  I am leaving town to work at a quilt show so I will likely not do this week's assignment at all, but I am interested to learn and see what how the other students approached it.