Blue Bell

Serenity was the perfect challenge, Betty. This came at a time when I was rushing to leave on a two-week trip leading up to two deadlines, anything but Serenity.

I really struggled to find a visual for Serenity - what is serenity, when and where were the serene moments in my life? One that came to mind was the breakfast room in Stockholm and the many happy cups of coffee I had looking out that sunny window - but, alas, I've done that already. I admit, I thought I was taking the easy way out when I went back to the "guided meditation" image I talked about in my earlier blog entry - but now it makes perfect sense. It represents the few moments of calm, centering I stole between classes and waitressing and trying to be a good mother to my sons when we lived in Blue Bell. Now as this is posted today, April 27th, those two young sons are turning 40 years old. Today, the sound of their voices, despite the many miles between us, is always one of the most calming, centering sounds in my life.

"Blue Bell" creation was another serendipitous result of an experiment. What would happen if I painted my bottom silk habotai layer with yellows and ochres and used blues and greens on my top organza layer? What would happen if I put things underneath my fabric rather than on top to sun print? It's not quite what I had imagined....but I was so pleased. And now I have some more experiments in mind....

"Blue Bell" is layered silk habotai and organza painted with Dye-Na-Flow paints, sunprinted from the bottom and top, with raw-edge appliquéd elements created from commercial batik and hand-dyed cottons. Machine quilting.