Weeping Birch Landscape Completed
Back in early December, I showed you the beginnings of weeping birch trees that I created out of nunofelt. At that point, I had just started stitching the smaller branches.
Here’s what it looked like at that point.
I added quite a few more branches with couching in a variety of colors to give the mottled appearance of these type of branches.
I decided not to procrastinate with the finishing work, so I chose a “matte” fabric of medium value gray, stitched the nuno felt to the fabric and laced the fabric around matte board. The piece without a frame is 11″ x 18″ approximately. It’s now ready to take to the framers when I have some other pieces completed to go with it.
Here’s a closer look at the hand stitching. You can click on any of the photos to enlarge them.
Next up are two more nuno felted pieces that need embellishing.
I think the one on the left will become free motion machine stitched with tree trunks and perhaps more orange leaves in the upper right corner. I am going to try and keep it fairly simple and not overdo the stitching. I want it to stay fairly abstract as landscapes go. The piece on the right may have cone flowers added to it with applique. I haven’t made any final decisions on that one yet. How would you finish these? I’d love to hear your ideas.
21 thoughts on “Weeping Birch Landscape Completed”
Love the weeping birches, Ruth, I hope you post o photo when it’s framed too as it would be good to see it in all its finished glory. I can see lots of potential I the other pieces too and look forward to seeing how you develop them.
Thanks Lindsay, I will post a photo of all the framed pieces once I get them done at the framers. I am almost finished with one of the other pieces and will start on the other one soon. So more posts coming.
Agree with Lindsay, the birches are lovely and would like to see them in their frame. Your next two pieces are both very exciting in colour and look explosive, like fireworks! So many ways to go with them it would be hard to choose 🙂
Thanks! That is always the difficulty, deciding which direction to go with these. But it’s always interesting to hear other’s ideas too.
I wonder what your next pieces look like from the back.
My thoughts on the one on the left are that (if the back is much the same as the front) I would flip it horizontally, turn it upside down and turn it into a stormy land, sea and skyscape. The more neutral pinkish section would then be in the bottom left hand corner where I’d put some wind blown trees against a hill. The bottom left hand corner I would turn into rough seas merging with the stormy skies and leading the eye up into more roiling clouds, with perhaps a couple of sunbeams poking through, one to the right lighting up the trees.
How’s that for seeing something in nothing? It’s amazing what you can see if you just sit and gaze.
Anyway, I really like the birches, the couched branches look really good, especially the beginnings of catkins (or is it leaf buds?) at the tips.
Ann
Thanks Ann, unfortunately, these pieces are not reversible. They are white on the back. But it’s so intriguing to hear your ideas of what you see in the piece. Funny how people see different things. Yes, those are catkins at the tips.
Took Ann’s advice and sat and gazed at your two pieces Ruth and after a while it came to me. Landscape piece – A view through Hubble. Portrait piece: Early summer in The Burren, County Clare (Ireland). The Burren is famous as a limestone area, resplendent with heathers, lichens and wild orchids. A truly beautiful part of Ireland.
Your weeping birches are truly beautiful, the stitching is lovely and subtle and deserves close inspection. Love it and can’t wait to see what you decide upon for your two new pieces.
Thanks Helene! Such different ideas from everyone. I would love to see the Burren, it sounds wonderful.
The birches turned out great. the one on the left I would rotate 180. then the middle bit looks like cliffs to me. So maybe a view from the sea or a desert scene. but I like the from space idea too. the one on the right makes me think of the scene you did with a lot of stitching a year? 2 years? ago. Maybe form the same dye session? When this ones done It would be interesting to see pictures side by side.
Thanks Ann, I can’t remember if the one on the right is the same dye batch as my slow stitch autumn piece or not. It could be. I will have to try and remember to put photos of them all together to see the differences.
Love the birches. They came out absolutely lovely and definitely deserve some framing and a nice wall to be admired on 🙂
Thanks Leonor! Hopefully, they will end up on someone else’s wall 😉
So lovely, it is almost as if the autumnal sun is shining on them. The branches are stunning.
Thanks Marie, I am happy to hear you say that it looks like the sun is shining on the branches. I’m always trying to portray the sunlight on trees and how it changes in different conditions.
Ruth your Birches are terrific!
You’re gonna laugh at what I envisioned for the Nuno Felt on the left. The first thing I saw were impressionist dancing girls, in a painting by Degas or Toulouse Lautrec! 😱
Thanks Capi, and no I won’t laugh. I always love to hear what others see in these backgrounds. It gives me new perspectives and ideas.
Having looked again, I can now see what Capi saw – I think. It is strange isn’t it how different people see different things?
(It’s no wonder that these days the police rely on CCTV rather than eye witness statements as no two people see the same thing happening right before them.)
I really must dig out some of my earlier random dyed fabrics and have a go – another one for the list.
Ann
Ann, random dyed fabrics are really fun to use. I’d love to see your results.
Love your birch trees and the use of couched yarns.
My immediate thoughts, seeing the nuno piece on the left, was that it made me think of Turner and his stormy seas. I’m struggling with the other piece but I know you will smash it, whatever you see!
Thanks Karen! It’s interesting that you see stormy seas in the piece too. I guess since I don’t see the sea that often, it rarely comes to my mind. We’ll see how they turn out 😉