Working Towards Abstraction in Landscapes – Guest Blogger: Ruth Lane

Level 3 Advanced Studies in Experimental Stitch – Class Name: Bachelor Buttons – Blog 5 in a Series of 8

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  The Language of Trees – Sketchbook Rendering © Ruth Lane

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  The Language of Trees – Full Piece © Ruth Lane

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  The Language of Trees – Detail – Machine Stitched Cord Roots © Ruth Lane

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  The Book of Edgar – Dog House Box – Holds The Book of Edgar © Ruth Lane

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  The Book of Edgar – Coptic Stitch Binding © Ruth Lane

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  The Book of Edgar – Front Cover © Ruth Lane

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  The Book of Edgar – Painted Color Spreads Across Pages © Ruth Lane

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  The Book of Edgar – Left Side Pages Machine Stitched © Ruth Lane

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  The Book of Edgar – Right Side Pages Hand Stitched © Ruth Lane

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  The Book of Edgar – Edgar Waits in Mama’s Studio © Ruth Lane

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  The Book of Edgar – The End – Hand Painted Background Fabric © Ruth Lane

Daily walks in the woods of Montana inspire much of my artwork. The morning light filtering through the trees revealing shadowed dark values contrasting with bright sunshine on a myriad of greens makes me stop and snap a photo. I squat down to admire the lichen and moss on the forest floor. Hundreds of photos go into my inspiration files. I have explored the use of colors that are not ‘normal’ forest or tree colors. Working towards abstraction in landscapes and moving away from my comfort zone of realism has been a real plus in how I am now working. After reading an article about trees communicating, I loved the idea of the vast underground network where the forest is interconnected. I think of what the trees might be “saying” and how important listening to what the forest has to tell us. My tree wall hanging represents my ideas about trees “talking”.

Our second major project was to develop a story and create a book or series. At the time of the assignment, I had just adopted a rescue dog named Edgar. As a proud fur mama, I took loads of Edgar photos and decided I would create The Book of Edgar. Edgar’s antics inspired multiple book pages. When I finished the book, it needed a special box to hold it. A dog house theme for the box was the ‘only’ option. Stitched fabric book and box construction was a new venture that I really enjoyed. Thank you Gail and Penny for all your guidance and hard work. Ruth Lane