Eucalyptus

There were so many options with the Line Challenge, I really couldn't decide which direction to go with it. After a couple of false starts, it just happened. I was experimenting with a sun printing technique and that ultimately brought me to my finished Line piece, "Eucalyptus".

Eucalyptus were brought to California from Australia in the 1850s during the goldrush with the hope that they would be a good source of lumber. When this failed, the were planted in great numbers along the edges of highways and orchards as a windbreak and thus line the local roads in much the way a hedgerow does in the UK.

I love the variety of gum trees we have and the many stages of blooms and and woody fruits. They've been a great source of leaves to print, in a variety of techniques. I'm inspired by the sense of movement in the graceful lines of the leaves. That is what my "Eucalyptus" is about - - - the movement created by line.

"Eucalyptus" is a simple pieced quilt created from two batches of sun printed fabrics. Linen (bleached and natural), silk habotai, and bleached muslin were used. One set of fabrics was painted with pewter liquid acrylic fabric paint and sun printed once (example above on natural linen). The second set was painted with cranberry paint, sun printed, painted again with turquoise paint, sun printed again, and painted with pewter paint and sun printed a final time (example below on bleached muslin). The piece is machine quilted.

Thanks for the great challenge, Hsin-Chen! I enjoyed considering all of the options on this one....