Project 3: “A Garden of Diversity”
For my final project, I decided to work off of the vegetable printing techniques we explored in class at the end of November. I was (of course) drawn to these techniques as they seem, again, very painterly. I am afraid I am a bit of a 2 dimensional junkie when it comes to fine art. I guess we all have our preferences….
In class we used many different veggies, cotton fabric and acrylic paint to create our desired effect. My first print consisted of radicchio-stamped flowers, okra buds and shallot leaves:
My next attempt was a melange of black stamp-pad ink, acrylic paint, mandarin-orange flowers with a fringe of mint leaves. I went home very happy with these pretty little prints.
Over the break, I worked on my artist presentation and got inspiration from an artist I had studied, Alicia Ross, who embroidered over photographs to create political messages. I decided to to the same with my vegggie prints and create a tri-panneled tribute to “The Rainbow Flag of Peace and Diversity”. Now, all I needed was the blue and purple panel.
For this last panel, I was inspired by my favourite blue and purple flower, the hydrangea. I perused the veggie isle and went for stamps that were fashioned out of broccoli, fennel stems, and flat leaf parsley.
The final step, on all of the panels, was the most time-consuming portion: the embroidery. I am pleased to report that my skills in this department are becoming more proficient and less irksome, and I was able to complete the embroidery with a minimum of cursing and within a reasonable amount of time.
