Saturday, April 2, 2011

Piecing Shadows



I just returned from a wonderful week in Tucson - a great respite from our seemingly never ending winter here in the northeast.  We were having lunch at a sandwich place in a typical suburban strip mall, and found out we were looking at the Safeway where Rep. Gabby Giffords was shot, and 8 people died. It was hard to imagine that someone walked up with a gun and started shooting. The parking lot was full of cars, there were people walking all over, in and out of the stores, and 8 people had died there. I can only imagine how surreal it was for everyone. And it made me realize it can happen anywhere.

While in Tucson, we did some exploring of the area. Visited the Desert Museum which had plants, coyotes, javelino's, raptors, lizards, snakes - oh my! Nice place to walk around and learn about the desert and it's flora and fauna. Of course, I was most interested in things that could inspire compositions.

The shadows on the walls made me think about what they would look like if they were pieced, or if the shadows were created by Shibori type marks. I could see doing them in the colors of the photo, or just black and white. Or in very bright colors...As usual, my mind goes in many different directions, and I can imagine all of them. Sewing is so time consuming that choices need to be made, and it is sometimes hard to commit when you know the work will take a month or longer. Meanwhile, other ideas move in and out of the list of things to be done!