Susan Hill – Architecture
North Carolina, while now home, still invites me to discover a world I hadn’t experienced before moving here. My earlier experiences with bare-bones living was urban. Now I’m seeing the rural version. The buildings in this picture were survivors; back in the times (not so long ago) when this state was almost entirely agricultural, they were built to meet basic needs (walls, a door, a roof) and nothing more. They had been empty and deteriorating for years when I took the photo on which my quilt is based. A new subdivision is about to be built on land adjacent to the lot where they stood. I had hoped that they’d be preserved as historical sites, to add lustre to the new community, but yesterday they were torn down. I’m glad I took the picture when I did.
Commercial fabric, paint, cheesecloth; fused, stencilled, hand-stitched.
FIFTEEN BY FIFTEEN 
Makes me think about the John Neely Brown replica in Dallas!
I like your treatment of the building and the fact that you managed to capture it before it disappeared. Well done
A snapshot of a time and a way of life that has now gone by the wayside…simple, colourful, peaceful. As Joni Mitchell sang in “Big Yellow Taxi”, ‘you never know what you’ve got till it’s gone’. So glad you caught this image before it disappeared from your landscape!
A very peaceful piece. I like how you treated the trees on the right.
The buildings were not saved, but you did with your quilt. An historical picture you translated very nicely. Love the colours and the silence you managed to get in this quilt.
It is sad to learn that nothing is being left to remind people about the rural dwellings of the past. Your fabric choices have captured the simplicity of the building against the lush green landscape.
Very nice piece and I love the way you did your trees and the little red accent of the butterfly in the foreground.
Such basic housing you wonder how people coped, great that you could capture it before it was demolished. Like your trees
I am struck by the contrast between the basic and rather sad looking little house and it’s lush and abundant surroundings.
I love the way you created the house, so basic. Your trees are beautiful.
In our countryside we see the skeletons of many farm buildings that were very basic but filled a need. They are frequently painted and photographed. You have captured the basic nature of the house perfectly. A piece if the past.