"Prairie Performance" Revisited

In early August we stopped at the New Sherman Hospital in Elgin, Illinois on our drive from Milwaukee, Wisconsin back to our cottage in Michigan.

 We had lunch in the hospital's  dining room ...

... in front of "Prairie Performance".

When Lee had gotten up to clear his tray, a woman at the next table said, "Let me tell you about those flowers.  They're what is planted outside around the hospital."  I replied with a big smile, "Thank you, I know.  I'm the artist."  She got all excited about my being there and told me she sits as close as she can for her lunch everyday.  Then she pointed out the Elvis she had found .... one that I had forgotten about.  Another diner joined in saying much the same things.  I pointed out a couple of more Elvis images to them.

Above is the view out the window that is perpendicular to the wall where "Prairie Performance" is installed.  If you look closely, its reflection can be seen in the glass.

I took a walk outside with my iPhone camera.

I also took photos of the interior garden, "The Healing Courtyard."  Quite a few Cone Flowers had been planted there.

Since then, friends from Hawaii also stopped in Elgin to view my art while on this trip to the states.  Here's Kawiki on his cell phone asking Lee for guidance to find an Elvis image.

Good News!

My issue of Fiber Arts magazine arrived in the mail today.  "Prairie Performance" and I are published in it.

I'm pleased to be included in this publication that I've subscribed to since the first issue.  It would've been nice for it to have been a full length article, but this will suffice.

There's more news!  The Robin's nest is empty.

The last and the smallest of the chicks found its way down into the courtyard.

One of the parent birds came in a few times with food.  A short time later it winged its way out the courtyard door to the stand of pine trees to join its siblings and parents.  We miss the noise and drama of watching this family of Robins.  In retrospect, it all seems to have happened so fast ... the building of the nest, the hatching of the eggs, the growth of the chicks.  In reality, it was a month.  Really, that was a short time!

Another Visit to "Prairie Performance"

The opening day of the New Sherman Hospital, December 15th, was a work and school day for the younger members of my family. Yesterday we all met there so they could see "Prairie Performance" hung on the wall.
Each of them lived through the creation of it at the cottage this summer ... watching it grow from week to week. The grandkids measured it for me.
That's three and half kids wide. Another measuring was close to three "Mrs. Durands" wide.
This piece is installed on the wall at the end of this dining area that looks out on the geothermal lake.
We had lunch in front of it.
I'm glad to have had the dining experience in the presence of my art ... to see it in the way many visitors to the hospital will view it.

PS: The press conference at the end of the Grand Opening Day was televised by Fox in the Chicago area with "Prairie Performance" as the backdrop.

I Saw IT!!!!!

Finally, December 15th arrived! The day of the grand opening of the New Sherman Hospital in Elgin, Illinois. The day that I finally got to see "Prairie Performance" installed on the wall.
A number of friends and family members came to view it with me.
The day was unusually clear and bright. The sun is almost at its lowest point in the sky this time of year. Those elements combined to make strong shadows fall across the piece. I'm glad there are at least six applications of Krylon acrylic spray with UV ray protection in the mix.
The photo below was taken on a day with a cloud cover that is more typical for winter. My friend, Barbara Lardon, took it before the hospital opened when she delivered her art quilts that are now hanging in the birthing rooms.
Near the end of it's construction there was a constant nagging thought that I should arrive for my first viewing with a pocket full of pastels and request that a ladder be brought out so I could "fix it". Well, I didn't take any art supplies. In fact, it was a relief to realize in retrospect that the thought never even occurred to me.

I am pleased!!!!

Woo Hoo! Installation Time!

I just heard that "Prairie Performance" will be installed tomorrow. Filming AND photos will be taken during the process. Now I'm excited and nervous. I cannot think of anything more I could've done or that any vital information about where each panel fits into the whole was left out.
I not only drew diagrams on the back of all twenty-five panels to indicate where each is positioned within the arrangement, but included a sheet with written instructions and a photo marked up with the letter and numeric positions. I've got my fingers and toes crossed.

Click here to read a post about the art collection going into this new hospital. I'm honored and pleased to have made it through that selection process. I'll let you know IF "Prairie Performance" is presented on that link in the near future. Any photos of the installation that are sent to me will get posted here.

Woo Hoo!

Mini Prairie Flower Quilts

I found a project. Making mini quilts that feature prairie flowers. I figured that I might as well do this while all the supplies from making "Prairie Performance" are not yet put away and I'm in the groove of working with them. It surprises me that I'm not sick to death of this theme. I guess those flowers are not yet out of my system.

Their foundations are made from the pieces cut off the 25 panels when I squared and trimmed them to their finished size of 23"x 24". Whatever else would I do with those trimmings? At any rate, I just cannot discard them.
Here are five sets laid out. The bottom one's strips are sewn together with a zig-zag stitch.
And here's the stack of twenty foundations cut from those stripped together pieces.
The first one I made features daisies. I was disappointed this favorite flower of mine was not indigenous to the prairies of northern Illinois. Consequently, there are none in the installation piece.

foundation strips finished piece

I'm making these as thank you gifts for my friends who've contributed scraps that most likely ended up in the BIG prairie flower quilt. I think they'll appreciate having these small quilts made of scraps and leftovers from "Prairie Performance".

"Cone Flowers" 8"x 10"

As you recall, Elvis was tucked in a number of places on the big quilt. Each of the mini ones will have an Elvis cut from this chiffon scarf hiding among the flowers.
Here's one. Can you find the other in the field of daisies?

Prairie Flowers FINISHED!

The prairie flower installation piece is FINISHED! Woo Hoo!!!!
The twenty-five panels are packed up and ready to be delivered.
That's 250 pounds of artwork!!! Each panel is mounted on a piece of MDF board that weighs 10 pounds.
The above photo is the back of one panel. As you can see, finally there's an official title ... "Prairie Performance". A big thank you goes to my husband for coming up with it. This title suits the piece ... all those flowers do not blossom at the same time in nature, but they're all "performing" their glory at once in my art. This was a big performance by me as well ... most every day for six months this is what I was doing ...
to get this.
This is the most could be laid out at one time on the living room floor to see how the flowers looked across the separate panels. I've been frustrated with not actually being able to see all it together at one time. Plus, the perspective of looking at it on the floor from a standing position is akin to my laying on the floor to look at art hanging on the wall ... not a normal perspective at all.
I can hardly wait to see it installed on the wall in the lobby of the new Sherman Hospital in Elgin, Illinois at the grand opening on December, 15th.

Sunshine

There's no shining sun outside my window ... out there it's cold, windy, and raining. The only sunshine to be found is in my field of prairie flowers.
This is the second to last of the twenty-five panels to get its detail layer of blossoms, leaves, etc. Just one more to go and this step is finally finished. The next part of the finishing process is to lay out the two rows down the right side to give those 10 panels the highlights and blending with the pastels, markers, and paint.

This panel was the last chance to hide Elvis's image among foliage. The last one yet to be worked is more or less a haze of flowers ... this picture would be too obvious there.
Well, back to work so we can get out of this summer cottage that is not meant to be occupied this late in the season.

Prairie Flowers - The Countdown

Remember when all the carpets were cleaned recently here at the cottage? With all the big pieces of furniture out of the living room ALL the panels were laid out on the floor.
Woo Hoo! I never thought there would be a space big enough available to do this. The scale of it still boggles my mind ... 14 feet by 10 feet. At this point there were six panels yet to get their detail layer of flowers. Now there are just the three you see in the foreground along that edge.

Since then that furniture in the living room has been shoved up against the walls so sections can be laid out for me to define and refine as well as to punch up and blend in with oil stick pastels, permanent markers, and paint. I've done this a number of times and am still touching up areas as I continue the mounting process.
Below are two photos of the same panel. The one on the left had already been worked on once. The one on the right has even more pastel work and paint added ... it sparkles!
Here are a number of panels in various stages of construction. They've just been treated with Krylon Fixative spray to set the oil stick pastel work that had just been added. This product also protects the piece against fading by light.
Note the debris from the storms littering the patio. I've been gradually picking it up to use as kindling to start daily fires in the wood burning stove. The weather has been stormy and cold. It's time to go south. Two more weeks of vigilant work and this project should be packed up and on its way to Chicago.

And we should be packed up and heading south.

...and Now There Are Five to Go!

In the two days since I last posted, the panel I was beginning to work then is finished ... including cut to size and the yarn couched on the edges. It's the one in the lower left corner. I'm set up to begin layering onto the one above it.
Whew! Getting this level of realism near the bottom usually takes three days. I've been working until 10:00PM and then up and at the machine by 7:00AM the last few days.

The view today from behind the machine is spectacular!
By the end of the day a big storm from the northwest will move in with much cooler temperatures accompanying it. Brrrrrrrr!

PS: There's another "bit of Elvis" hiding in the just finished panel. If you need a hint, it's near an edge close to a Blue Aster.

Working In A Gift

The prairie flower installation project is "getting there". The first of the six panels left to get flowers was worked on today. This is the set-up in my studio to get the details placed so they flow into the surrounding panels.
Part of those details came from this box of yarns. They were a gift from a friend whose wife was an accomplished needlework woman.
I'm honored to received this supply of wonderful yarns and threads to work into my art pieces. Here are the ones used in this panel.
And here are the flowers. leaves, and grasses laid in place.
The next step is to add the layer of tulle and get the machine quilting done ... tomorrow.