Trialling a finishing technique
Attaching The Geese
I’ve not been finishing any of the Amarna pieces for presentation, because once mounted and framed, they take up much more space, and also because I’m not sure which pieces are going where. However, the needlefelted pieces are not going to form part of the main panels, and I rather think it may take more than one attempt to get them just right. I’ve decided I want to present them rather as pieces of fresco are presented in museums, on a background which is similar in colour to the main colour, but not close enough to mislead.
So the first thing to do was to find a suitably-sized artist’s canvas, and cover it with some padding and then a nice woollen fabric which is a warm yellow, slightly darker than the felt background. Then I cut around the Amarna Geese to make a rough, uneven shape. I should probably have cut off a head or something so that the fresco would look suitably fragmentary, but I simply couldn’t bring myself to do that!
Mounted And Signed Too
I used a fine woollen thread to attach the felt to the background fabric, as far as possible remaining within the thickness of the felt. That was quite tricky, and I wonder whether there might be an easier way. I’m glad I didn’t start with the two princesses!
My Morse Code signature is in double straight stitches, following an edge. And there’s a bit of a corner left open there. I might do an extra goose head and add it in as a separate fragment!
Oh, your geese look lovely Rachel. And I totally understand the broken-piece-museum-look you are going for!
Looks fabulous! I have been eagerly awaiting a progress report and this surpasses my expectations. It does look like what one finds in a museum.
Very love geese. Looks 3D. Nice work.
Great work!
🙂 The geese are charming! They have a sense of stylized warmth–Love them.
A perfect way to display those geese. Very effective and simple. Spot on. It’s not needed for that one – which is great as it is – but for your mental toolbox: I am now thinking of the sort of bits-of-fresco/pottery display where the coloured sections of the real thing are set on a background with a simple outline or monochrome continuation showing how the whole piece probably looked when complete….
I’m not surprised that you couldn’t bring yourself to cut a head off one of your wonderful geese!
Your lovely geese look great framed like that. xx
Lovely geese and such a clever idea!
These geese are lovely! I’m not sure I could have cut one off either. I love your museum style idea. Can’t wait to see it all come together!
I love these geese and your process is fantastic.
I really like the idea of adding another goose as a fragment of this piece. I’m glad you didn’t cut off a goose head! We can pretend this is a vase that fractured in a way that this motif was preserved intact. =) This looks beautiful as a presentation. I can easily see it actually hanging in a museum or gallery exhibit of your Amarna work. I’m enjoying that book, by the way – Nefertiti Lived Here. It’s slow reading because of all the other things I have to do, but it’s such an interesting book.
I am so relieved you didn’t decapitate a goose! More beautiful embroidery Rachel and another fascinating insight into your thought process