New Work – Ice Jam

I am very pleased to reveal my latest work, Ice Jam.  It’s my distillation of many visits to the Susquehanna River in the depths of winter, when multiple freeze/thaw cycles have transformed it into a jumble of slabs and chunks of ice.  The ice piles up on the islands and spills out onto the riverbanks.
The center panel of this work is needlefelted, with silk and wool fabric and fibers.  It is stitched and extensively hand beaded with semi-precious stones and seed beads. (All the pictures enlarge when clicked.) The surrounding and supporting quilt is made from collagraph prints onto cotton, along with strips of patchwork.
The finished work is 43”high by 52” wide.
I’m happy with the way all the elements of Ice Jam came together.  It’s very evocative of the experience of visiting the river on a bitterly cold day—a bit surreal and potential treacherous!

To track back the evolution of this work, and see the pictures that inspired it, click on Ice Jam on the sidebar, or go here.

Thanks for following along, and comments are always welcome.

I just noticed that this is post #500.  I don't do it for the numbers, but it still seems significant.  I'm happy so many of you have been along for the journey.

Work in Progress – Ice Jam, Update 4

Bitter cold, various types of frozen precipitation,  and intense winds are shaping my experience of the world this month.  The Susquehanna River has frozen over, once again transforming the landscape.  It’s a good time to be in the studio, with the warmth of the coal fire, and finish up with Ice Jam.
I finalized the design and pieced together the supporting quilt, using the collagraph prints and strips of patchwork.  The center portion is plain fabric, as it will be covered by the needlefelted river center panel. 

It’s definitely coming together at this point.  The background quilt is being layered and stitched, and the center panel is getting lots of handbeadwork.  Stay tuned for the reveal!

To see the evolution of this work in progress, and pictures of the Susquehanna River ice that inspired it, click on Ice Jam in the sidebar, or go here.