Els Mommers -Series #1 – DOOR
DOOR TO A COURTYARD
For working in series I have chosen the theme: DOORS.
I made already a Cathedral doorway for the theme: Entrances.
I love doors and am always very curious what is behind a closed door.
I am especially intrigued by old doors and peeling paint and have made many photographs of them.
My goal is to explore different surface- techniques as well for the doors as for the surrounding walls.
To have some consistency I am thinking about having about the same shape for the door and a sort of silhouette in front of it.
This second door is a door to a courtyard surrounded by flowers.
For the background I used a piece of eco dyed cotton. I stamped on top of it with a stencil and covered some parts with gesso and pumice-gel. After drying I put a wash of paint over it and painted some black cracks in the wall. The whole wall was then covered with acrylic wax.
The door is made out of a piece of fabric covered with gel medium. On top of the gel medium a piece of paper towel is placed and covered again with the gel medium. When dry I painted it with acrylic fluid paint, have put acrylic wax over it and a sprinkle of rust powder and vinegar. For the final part some acrylic wax again. The door is raw edge appliqued on the background.
The stone arch above the door is made with ice-dyed fabric as is the pavement. Latches and padlock are rusted fabric. The screws for the latches are small black beads. The black appliqued silhouette is from a traced picture of my husband. I went over it with some golden gilding paste.
The stones in the background are quilted as is the pavement. The door has straight black lines sewn over it, just as the stones of the arch. After quilting, appliqued flowerpots are added and fine cut embroidery thread sprinkled over it for leaves and flowers. This was covered with voile and free motion quilted. A next layer of embroidery pieces was added and covered with tulle and quilted again.
The finishing touch was the house number and the black shade on the door to give it some depth and some sponge printed green plants next to the door.
Detail
FIFTEEN BY FIFTEEN 
Very good choice of theme! There are many possibilities of exploring doors. I can’t wait to see more.
Great choice of subject! I love the colours and details that you have added to the door and flowers. I look forward to seeing the next one.
“Doors” is an excellent choice especially to explore different surface techniques ! I also have a collection of doors waiting … I like how you have added the flower pots, they look very realistic. The technique you use for the wall is very interesting too. What is pumice gel ?
Els, this door is so good! Again I love the different techniques you used. The details make this quilt an “Els-quilt”. Really beautiful!
I really like this piece, Els…especially the three-dimensional feel to the wall around the door, and the beautiful detailing — the lock, the climbing flowers, the shadowy figure. I couldn’t recall the “Entrances” theme, but then remembered it was in 2015 (my year “off”)…and I enjoyed reviewing your original post. Now I look forward to seeing the other doorways you create as you go forward.
Such a lot of work has gone into producing just the right colours and textures for each element of this piece, and they all work beautifully together. This is a lovely piece and the attention to detail has really paid off. I like the way that you are thinking of approaching the series, and it should be really interesting
A beautiful door and surroundings. A great subject for a series and a experimental journey in surface techniques. Love all the techniques you used and the details you put in your work. Well done an I am looking forward to see more.
What a very detailed piece this is and so many techniques too. The development of the Doors series will be fascinating.
What a great theme. I have always loved seeing beautiful old doors and I too have a collection of doors on my wish list. I really enjoyed seeing how you incorporated all the surface techniques and details in this piece. Very nicely done.