Its still all about Arizona for me so here are the pictures of the larger Arizona morning piece that I'm working on.
I'm using all of the same fabrics as in the postcard. Here's the start of my sky (remember: that orange-purple at the top is actually not so dark.)
A few more layers are laid out and the upper ones are sewn down. I did have some rough sketches for the composition which I followed only loosely.
This light blue is my lowest and brightest level of the sky. Its a pretty good early dawn color, I think.
Time for the horizon to make an appearance. A few mountains in the distance to give the essence of the skyline as seen from Tucson.
The precise number, size, shape and placement of the saguaros is a lot more important so I have sketched them out here on some tracing paper. I could absolutely not get by in my studio without tracing paper--I use it for just about every collage piece. I then cut the shapes out and used the tracing paper saguaros as tracing templates.
And here are the fabric saguaros in the same positions. When placement is critical, I adhere the new shapes with a craft glue stick as well as pins. I am then assured that there will be no slippage as I sew them down or manipulate the entire piece.
Of course, I had to listen to some cowboy music while I was working! My choice: "A Great Big Western Howdy!" by the Riders in the Sky. Between their music and what I was creating and seeing in my mind's eye, I was completely transported for an hour or two to, well, Arizona.
