Wednesday, February 07, 2007

More Small Collages

Here are the sweet little items I did for a friend to give to her new twin neices for their baptisms.

Before they were born, each girl was assigned a color -- one pink and one purple. They picked out clothes and room decor using those colors, so I was glad to stick with the idea. But, it was also fun to include bits of the theme fabric from each piece in the other piece. I'm sure that's how sisters are -- totally individual but with similar foundations.

The words "marked as Christ's own forever" come from the Sacrament of Baptism in the Book of Common Prayer that we use in the Episcopal Church. Such a complete statement of faith in those few small words. I also used a shell in each piece since it is a very common symbol of baptism.

I got handy with Photoshop and covered up the letters on the alpha beads I used to spell out their names.

These pieces were very challenging. My friend wanted smallish items, but I found myself wanting to include other design elements that I just didn't have space for. (Was I just implying I wanted to make something bigger?! Blasphemy!) The girly colors and theme are also a bit outside my comfort zone. Just yesterday I said I like muddy colors, right? It's also such a challenge to make something for a friend. There is the added worry of whether they will *really* like it. I guess as an artist you just have to let that go.

I ended up mounting these pieces on stretched canvas. They looked so slick -- very clean, contemporary and fresh. And the white of the canvas complemented some of the elements used in the small quilts. The format let the artwork shine without being disturbed by a frame. So, now they are ready to hang. Not to mention -- the stretched canvas is much more economical than framing.

Did I say I was going to get the binding on long skinny yesterday? Not so much.

14 comments:

Amy said...

Deborah, these turned out gorgeous! I love the little button flowers especially.

laura west kong said...

They are adorable! I love all the precious details. You can't go wrong with pink or purple for little girls.

Anonymous said...

Oh, Deborah, these are wonderful and I love the symbolism.

Jules said...

I like these pieces and the interesting shapes. I would love to know how you attached the shells. On another note, I started working on a series using the inspiration in your book. It is a lot of fun.

Anonymous said...

Theses pieces are wonderful and will be cherished forever! It's good to be forced out of your comfort zone from time to time!

dee said...

Deborah, I love these and the thought and message is so touching. Beautiful!

Anonymous said...

I love these pieces, I'm sure they will be treasured for many many years! I do have a question, how did you mount them on the canvas? I love that idea and was wondering how you mount them. Do you sitch them on? Great idea! Did you take any pictures after they were mounted.

kathy said...

I was right; you've been a busy girl! I love them all! The 'muddy one' might be my favorite...

Anonymous said...

Love them. You are so awesome. Do you have the whole piece planned out in your head before starting? hannah

Anonymous said...

You did a prayer for Charlie's baptism 3 years ago, and it's one of our treasured hangings. I'm sure these girl's families will feel the same way. Beautiful!

Melly Testa said...

I like 'um! I love spiritual and religious sentiment too! I bet you wanted to make them larger!

Melody Johnson said...

I especially loved the Marked as Christ's own. Wonderful.

Anonymous said...

Hi Deborah,
Check out this site, she does work very similar to yours....she is in spain, I think. These are her Flickr pics.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/marta_mendes/

Julie said...

Deborah, We love love love the quilts, they are perfect!!
Julie, Lily and Mia