Wednesday, March 23, 2016

Eeney, Meeney, Miney, Moe...


The 17th Annual Lacombe Art Show and Sale is just over two weeks away, so I'm bolstering my inventory of minis.  This one's been sandwiched for a couple of months, I think...just waiting for stitch.

Inspired by the memory of a 'moonset' I saw in December while driving in to work one morning, it's background is a piece of hand-dyed poly-cotton sheeting, on which I painted the pale setting moon using some Shiva PaintStik (R), and some fabric paints.  I covered this with a piece of Extravorganza (R) -- printable organza -- on which I'd printed a photo of one of my favourite stands of trees. (The organza is fused to the background fabric with MistyFuse.)

I decided to stitch some of the tree trunks, using dark grey silk thread (YLI)...but found that the "hazy" look created by the organza overlayer meant it was hard to see what I was doing.

Aha!  (That's the light-bulb going off in my brain.)

I have a small clip-on magnifying glass for embroidery.  I found a way to clip it to the edge of my sewing table...et voila!


Using my trusty walking foot, the stitching went quite easily.  The matting is more of a challenge.

I'm undecided.  I have two mats that might work.  One is a very dark grey; the other, more blue.   So...Gentle Readers, here are two shots of each.  I'd like your opinion, please!  (Remember, each piece is 5" x 7", matted to 8" x 10".)

First, photographed in full sunlight on a counter in front of a window:

Mat "A"

Mat "B"

Next, photographed outside on a white background, but out of the bright sun:

Mat "A"

Mat "B"

Any thoughts?  While you ponder my dilemma, I'm linking this up to WIP Wednesday over at The Needle and Thread Network, and going out for a jog.  See you later!

9 comments:

Giddings Art said...

I am leaning toward the bluer mat. They look so different in the different light. It's hard to decide! I love your work. It is beautiful!!

Darlene said...

I agree, I like the bluer one too. Either one will work though. Beautiful, as usual, Margaret.

Christine Staver said...

My initial reaction was the blue mat, but out of sunlight I liked black one. It it a beautiful piece and both mats look good. I think the black one is more dramatic.

Sha said...

I prefer the black matt - because I end up looking at the artwork - with the bluer tone - I look at the frame and not the artwork. The Black is somewhat formal but with the tiny white inner matt it also emphasizes the artwork. Success

Kathie Briggs said...

Of course the decision is up to you but if it was my decision I would base it on value not color. When I took a snapshot of the two options and desaturated it the black mat made the trees stand out more prominently I would post a photo but the comment box does not accept pictures.

els said...

I would go for the black mat. The trees stand out more in the black.

Wil said...

Both of them work, but my favorite is the blue. Okay, I am biased, as blue is my favorite color anyway :-)

Lesley Turner said...

I prefer Mat 'A'. It is a more neutral colour and doesn't distract from the work. But when one looks at the real thing the effect may be different
again. A hard decision as you say. What did your instinct tell you after you came back from your run?

Anonymous said...

I like a different one in different lights. I tend to go towards black because I like the dramatic look but the blue works for this one too. Not much help.