Tuesday, December 16, 2008

"Wildest Dreams" Process

I got a call from Dr. Mazloomi asking me to participate in the upcoming exhibit "Quilts for Obama: Celebrating the Inauguration of our 44th President", curated by Roland Freeman, author of "A Communion of the Spirits" and noted African American quilting expert. It will be held January 11 through January 31, 2009, at The Historical Society of Washington, D.C., 801 K Street, NW at Mount Vernon Square, Washington DC 20001. The exhibit opens Sunday afternoon, January 11, 2009, at 2:00 p.m.

My piece "Wildest Dreams" honors my ancestors who could never have dreamed of Mr. Obama becoming elected. It depicts the husbands and fathers of my grandmothers. I stopped by and had dinner (which was great) with Grandma after dropping it off at Mr. Freeman's home yesterday and when I showed her its photo, she started exclaiming and hugging me. I am not going to post a pic of the whole final piece until the opening day, but I can show you the process for part of it. This is how my paternal great-grandfather, Walter Joseph Scott, went from photo to finished piece:

First, the lightbox (thanks Victor!)...Then the handpainting...Then the pieceing...Then after quilting, voila...a great-granddad in fabric!

6 comments:

Victor said...

So, how Caucasian was Great Grand Dad, Ms. Sew Chick?

Elle said...

Oh le ha ha Victor...what difference does it make what he was? He was a decent hardworking guy and without him, I wouldn't be here. Geesh.

Karoda said...

i never imagined him to be caucasian, so the poster's question caught me off guard...are you laying out your quilt the same as the photo collage below? It really is a fitting image to the title of the quilt.

Peace and blessings during this holiday season to you and yours.

Elle said...

Victor is (God help me) a very good friend of mine and was teasing me, ugh. Long story...

Anyway, I had to reduce the men portrayed to only 4, but yes, it is similar to the photos. I think you'll like the finished version!

Unknown said...

What a wonderful idea! It looks great thus far. Happy Holidays to you and your family!

L. R. Giles said...

Lawana, hi. This is L. R. Giles from the Dark Dreams anthologies. I hope you're doing well. I've put together a group on Facebook to try to reconnect everyone from DD since this year is the 5 year anniversary for the publication of the first Dark Dreams. My email address is lrgiles@cox.net. Please send me your email if you're interested in joining and I'll send you an invite. Happy New Year.