navbar

THIS BLOG HAS MOVED TO http://katethemel.com/blog

28 June 2017

This message will self destruct in 5, 4, 3, 2.....


I'VE MOVED!
 
Actually, the blog has moved, not me.
With the help of the talented and super-patient Holly Knott, my website and blog have been converted to WordPress

Check out the new digs at: http://katethemel.com

Please make a note of the new web address.
 
The "old blog" (aka, this one on Blogger) will be gone as of August 1, 2017. Thank you for visiting and I hope you'll follow me to my new site!

27 April 2017

New Work: TIME

The ancient Celtic calendar year began at Samhain, a festival that marks the end of harvest season and the beginning of the "darker half" of the year. On a modern Roman calendar, Samhain would occur on the night between October 31 and November 1.
All Celtic festivals would begin at dusk or sunset. They measured the passage of time in nights not days, and measured their months by the cycles of the moon.  During winter, the beginning of the Celtic year, plants go dormant. Trees appear to be dead. But the ground is full of potential energy. The flower emerging from the soil is not the beginning of that plant's life. It's life began as a seen, inside the dark earth.
 

 
For the Viewpoints 9 Challenge: "TIME", I used an ombre background fabric to represent the Celtic idea that a day begins at dusk rather than dawn. I added machine quilting with metallic thread to create branches (or roots) in the empty spaces.  The spiral is made with yarn, which I crocheted into a chain to represent interlocking days and nights and the cycle of time. Then I hand stitched the chain into the shape of a spiral, an ancient Celtic symbol of life and potential energy and the idea of cyclical time.
The spiral is divided into 13 sections highlighted by hand-sewn glass metallic beads.  I chose the metallic beads because they seem to appear and disappear as you walk around the piece. Depending on the light, you can see the lines between a few sections but never all 13 at once.
 

 

08 January 2017

Recent Portraits

Tis the season... for commissioned artwork :-)
Now that these portraits have been opened as Christmas surprises, it's okay to share some photos!

ALBERT
I call this one "Devastatingly Handsome" because Albert's coloring reminds me of a tuxedo. For the background fabric, I went to my go-to hand dyes by Carol R Eaton. 
Then I hand cut and layered pieces of black, white and gray fabrics to create Albert's portrait. I used 2 shades of brown for his eyes and added more details with the hand guided quilting stitches.

finished size 12"x 15"


 

DAVID
Commissioned as a memorial for a beloved family member.  This portrait was such a joy to create. David's sweet smile is contagious. I found myself smiling back at him as I worked on the quilt.

finished size 13"x 15"