Rubbing and Pounding

I have done a lot of rubbing and pounding here in Colorado. Whenever we take a hike I carry along a square of muslin and a crayon to make rubbings from interesting surfaces ... mostly trees and logs.The poundings are of flowers and leaves. This one commemorates the area in which we stay.

Memories of Rockmount - 12"x 12"

It has crayon rubbings of surfaces within our cabin and the top rail of the bridge leading to it. The pounded flowers and leaves were picked from the shoreline of the stream as well as the basket hanging outside the cabin. It was gifted to the retiring managers of the complex.

I made two pieces from these rubbings and poundings that are similar to each other. Rubbings were painted to look like mountains. Each corner represents a time of day ... sunrise, noon, sunset, and night.
The first was made as a wedding present for my husband's cousin who was married in the mountains. The center of this one features wild flowers which the bride carried in her bouquet. It also has small stones from one of the hiking trails couched with metallic thread to the four corners of the center. This one was presented to my brother-in-law who has a house in Aspen for his 70th birthday.

It's center features pansies from his garden and Aspen leaves from the trees in his yard. The stones are from his collection that have been found in the mountains and then polished. I took a small selection from the basket in the guest room, telling him he'd get them back.
I had not treated the fabrics before pounding the flowers and leaves. The natural dye is strong at first, but fades. To ensure that the color lasts, I lightly colored the flowers and leaves with crayons and set the wax and pigment into the fabric with an iron.