new Digital to Textile post

Today I posted my interim work on the blog for my Digital to Textile minigroup:

I provided the photograph for this last round of our photograph challenge in the Digital to Textile group. I took it some time ago in the nether regions of the family farm in Washington where my husband grew up -- note the German translation of "outhouse" on a background scene.

I chose this photo for multiple reasons, but paramount was the diversity of line and texture the snapshot offers. We presented our interim work this week, and many of us focused on those two qualities.

Here is the entire photo, with a black box around the area I started with:

Using Photoshop, I colored the foliage, and brought the grain of the old wood forward. I then separated each line segment of the tire, and gave each different color and texture, working in a warm palette primarily, with smidgens of cool color.

At that point, I felt the piece seemed choppy, and I could not locate a satisfactory focal point. So, I created one! I took the pumpkin-and-spice colored foliage and wrangled it into a sphere-like shape. Now the scene struck me as some surreal landscape. Yes!

At the meeting, my group-mates had a very positive response. Many thought the piece had an Asian feel. Oh, yes, of course I was striving for that!

I will print this on inkjet-ready paper-back cotton sateen, layer it, and then decide how I want to stitch it. My goal will be to highlight the texture of the piece, as well as the strong lines.

Working with my own photo was quite lovely. My quite time in this solitary endeavor was laden with good memories and sweet anticipation.