Red theTame, our pet dragonfly

...back from a spectacular vacation in Mendocino and Marin Counties, lots of hiking and gazing at the deep blue sea that up there is azure and aquamarine and multiple shades of turquoise. No financial interest here, but the Albion River Inn is pretty darn near heavenly. Or just heaven.

For several years now, a singular dragonfly (colorful, therefore male...) has come to stay in the spring and summer, claiming a reed or some such perch where he can gaze upon his reflection in the pond and watch his mate (we like to think so) do a skimming dance on the pond as she deposits their progeny.

We named him Red the Tame. These photos attest to the level of trust he places in me, camera in hand:






Naturally, this had to be captured in some sort of textile creation. I started with this picture of the dragonfly perched on the finial of a hose guide:



An artsy crop:



Whoah, look at the shadow of Red the Tame's wings on the finial!

In a digital imaging class, we were asked to make an abstract from a photo, so...


This needed color. I discovered you could paint with Photoshop! Voila!



Since I wanted to embed this in fabric, I tried out the image with two colors:




Hmmm, I liked them both, so I decided on silk dupioni in both shades. Cinnamon inner border, then green. The image is printed on silk charmeuse. Do you see the little legs at the top right?

The piece is mounted on plexiglass.



The stitching is spare, suggesting the wings.

I am certain Red the Tame would appreciate this rendering of his elegant self.