Serenade

Inspiration : My picture was taken on the French side of the Lake Leman in the Alps last June. On the original picture there were no birds but I liked the quiet water and it is easy to imagine one perched on the balustrade and singing

In the dictionary one of the many definition of Music says ” Sounds produced by singing or by musical instrument”. I thought a singing bird would be a perfect illustration. From the dictionary I have chosen these definitions : ” Sounds produced by singing or by musical instrument” or ” Sounds perceived as pleasing and harmonious” to illustrate my interpretation and make my composition.

Background : I started by a layer of Mistyfused on the batting, organised my background and fused everything in place. The balustrade was cut out from a piece of light grey batik and appliquéd in a second step with free motion quilting, using quilting paper and following the shadow lines. Shadows were made with Inktense pencils and gel medium. I made a stamp for the bird and printed it with acrylic paints on a piece of fabric; it was then cut out, fused and embellished with free motion embroidery. I made some decoloration on the blue fabric behind the balustrade to suggest the movement of water.

Musical score : It is a copy from my husband’s huge pile of musical scores … he is a clarinetist ! Sprayed with Brusho, I fused Mistyfused on the back and tear it into irregular squares; then ironed them in place. To fix the colours I applied satin acrylic wax on them.

The quilt is faced.

Original photo:

Close up views: