Time and Trees: Felled

Trees are sometimes used as a commercial crop and once these have reached their optimal size they are felled completely. I was inspired by the piles of logs that line the forest tracks and the huge voids left in the landscape when this happens. It always makes me feel sad to see such a huge number of trees laid low.

I used a very dilute silk paint to give a background colour to the piece then overprinted this several times with transfer paint to give more depth to the background. I added commercial space-dyed fabric to wadding and used hand stitching to outline the logs and to fill the gaps between them, and to make the ‘thick’ logs stand out slightly. I the printed one of my pictures of log piles onto sheer fabric and added this to the background, before then placing the ‘thick’ logs on to of these.

Machine quilting was then used around all the logs to make the ‘thick’ logs stand out further and to highlight the logs on the sheer fabric. Behind these I used machine quilting above the logs to suggest the ghosts of the trees that once stood there. Further small stitches were added by hand as reminders of the leaves and colours that the trees once gave to the landscape.

Detail views:

Inspiration