Fissures and Fractures

 The latest prompt for 4 Common Corners, a group of Saqa members located in the southwest 4 corners region (New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, and Colorado) was Fissures and Fractures.

I worked on this piece as we traveled in our little van this summer, mostly in the northwest region of Colorado.  It first started as a hand dyed fabric.  I am lucky enough to go visit Terrie Mangat's studio in the mountains of Taos once or twice a year to dye and paint fabric.  She is so much fun!

 We each work on whatever we want, but my favorite part is the camaraderie and friendship, her welcome and encouragement.

This piece evolved differently than most of my previous ones.  After dyeing, I decided first to work on it as a whole cloth piece and quilted it in turquoise perle cotton, and then fuchsia pink perle cotton, creating rough square divisions.  I then choose small pieces of fabric to applique in those squares, rounding off the corners, and small enough to leave the background colors to peep through.

I intended to cover the entire piece with appliqued squares, but as I worked on it, I realized I liked it better with empty areas, and the more I thought about fractures and fissures in our lives, and in my life.  It became a representation, at least in my mind, of those fractured things, the missing bits, the ugly and the beautiful.

I hope this blog becomes a journey and journal of sorts of my work, and I and others can see the progression over the years.