Hello again…is it mid August already? How is everyone managing in the heat? I’m a solidly indoorsy gal so as long as the AC is blasting and I have thread (joke, I have lots of thread) I’m all set.

I’ve done a lot of animals via foundation paper piecing and thread painting in the past but lately I’ve been inspired by people. My first foray is an abstract. I learned a lot about what to do and what not to do here.

I think the only successful aspects of this one are the free motion quilting and the eerie, Van Gogh-esque style of the face. It’s kind of a cross between Van Gogh brush strokes and that painting The Scream. It’s a little gothic but I like the dimension rendered by a blend of 30 and 40 wt variegated threads and some solid colored threads too. So I took what I learned from my mistakes here and did this.

Inspired by Team USA’s black female Olympic medalists, the black women who raised 4 million dollars in the two hours that followed Kamala Harris’s candidacy for president and the unprecedented avalanche of cash they triggered from groups across all demographics and segments of the political spectrum, and Kamala’s drive and determination, I felt compelled to somehow extend an artistic gesture that would honor these women. This is what came of that.

Felted wool fibers, felted yarn, 30 and 40 wt threads both solid and variegated, Floriani embroidery thread, tons of 50 wt bobbin thread, and two layers of water soluble stabilizer were used to create her face and hair. One of the things I love about thread painting is that layering thread types and weights and colors creates so much depth and nuance to the overall result. It’s hard to know when to stop sometimes so I have to step away and refresh my perspective.

Now to find a good spot in my gallery for her!