Fruit

I love dropcloths. I don’t often make them myself but if I happen upon one that is allowed to go home with me I am delighted. Dropcloths show effort, action and revision. Dropcloths protect what is under.

Dropcloths are a record of time.

So when I came upon this discarded dropcloth I couldn’t resist taking it home with me. Bright and deep magenta, brilliant yellow and a hint of sky blue. There are some stampings on it and a sprinkling of raw umber spots. It is soft and worn, damaged but intact. I worked with it for a couple of months before I came to my final decisions about its form. Here are some of the steps I took in the process.

The cloth went through many stages of composition and texture. I loved all the stitching and texture but did not find the end result compelling enough to consider it done. The work ended up in the raw materials section of the studio where it could rest and be considered for a different life. See a post about its first incarnation here).

Then one day I decided to cut it up to experiment with curved seams and 3D features. The cloth really came alive. It started looking like a creature or a giant squishy comfort toy.

I loaded those squishy bits onto the leftover dropcloth to create a larger piece. I added cone-shaped objects into the mix from another cut up quilt. Eventually the pieces came together to form a whole.

I’m still settling on which way I want to hang it. I like it both ways and it may still go through a transformation while I work on details. It makes me laugh. Something I need more and more these days.

Fruit, 25” x 50”, Paula Kovarik

Fruit, 25” x 50”, Paula Kovarik

The Herd show is at the International Quilt Museum until September. If you are traveling anywhere near Lincoln, Nebraska please stop in to see it.

Second thoughts

I think I am done with this piece. Problem is I am not sure what side is up. While I was working on it I just let the stitch tell me where to go. It is a drop cloth that I stitched together to create a surface to respond to. I turned it East, then West, then North and South. Each time responding to what I had stitched in the former session. The composition was secondary but it did seem to hold together when I took a breath to look at it.

Zooming in

Each session brought new textures. The fabric is billowy and unstable. It was difficult to tame until I let it have its way with me—letting the billow billow. I think it might be an old poplin sheet. I used a wool batting and a cotton muslin backing to keep it light. The whole piece is 35” x 37” so it was easily finished in a couple of weeks. After free-motion stitching I added a tight textural filling with hand stitching to contrast with the open negatives spaces left unstitched.

When to call it done?

I might be done with the stitching part of this piece. Just not sure which end is up. Each configuration could be the right one. Here are the four for your consideration.

Number One. This one has a large face in it.

Number Two. This one looks like a vehicle of some sort with wacky wheels.

Number Three. Here’s a happy guy in the middle with his arm upraised.

Number Four. This one turns those two wacky wheels into two wacky heads.

Where to go next?

Another piece of fabric, some thread and a little batting.

Remember: It’s Process not Product.