I recently returned from a trip to Cuba. We went on our own this time, visiting an artist friend in Trinidad, a city in the south of the island.
You can see a video of my trip here.
But what I wanted to do today is share some pictures of the process of compositing my collages. I spent a morning on the patio of the Casa where we stayed, spreading out all of my fabrics, found objecs, papers, etc etc, and creating several compositions that I could later stitch.
I thought it would be fun for a reader to play “I spy” to discern what was the change each time, and why it was important. It is much harder to change a composition decision at the end. And if it’s not right at the beginning, it becomes glaringly obvious when the piece is finished.
Here we go!
The final piece is here at the beginning. See how much the stitching adds to the image!
Here is the first composition attempt.
#2, Cut the ticket into strips, ripped the edge of the map, ironed the blue piece at top right. Happy accident: it heat-disorted!
#3, Softened the bottom of the pic top left with a piece of lace, added a fifth strip of the ticket.
#4, Replaced the lace piece I just put down to cheese cloth. Increased the curbe of the central lace piece. Before stitching I also couched some black yarn to help unify the piece. Finally, I was satisfied!
Martha Ressler, Vintage Cuba,
Here is another smaller one. Click on the image to see the caption.
