Woohoo - BJP started

I did a pencil sketch of the sunflowers, took out these materials from my stash, and I know just the dark brown and gold beads I want to use in the seed heads. I stitched the piece of silk noil to the back of the piece of silk dupion which I will cut through to reveal the noil for the seed heads. The sheers are for making raggedy leaves, and the black net for the shadow shapes. I'm a bit worried that the size of the piece is too small but I'll continue with it anyway and see where it leads.


Here are some I did years ago, without size restrictions - this first one is now my sewing machine cover. It started as an exercise in studying the way sunflower seeds grow in spirals. The closeup has gone sort of blue in color - sorry about that.


While I was on that jag, I also did this piece, based on a piece of Swiss cotton batiste that I'd shibori-coloured. The close-up is meant to show how some of the bugles are standing up. These pix also have a blue cast that isn't there in real life.

I may get out tomorrow morning and sketch some more in the field. By writing this post, I realise that I have a thing for sunflowers, just never realised it before. It's not that I'm obssessed or anything like that, just that I find them very moving. Now I come to think about it, I also have a book about them, David Douglas Duncan's "Sunflowers for Van Gogh". O, dear, this BJP is already turning into a journey of self-discovery...