Accessories and Ornaments, earrings, Haiku, Jewelry, Poetry, Poetry and Photography

June Haiku Art: Waterfalls

Guila Greer

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My theme for this month seems to be “change” – new directions, new resolve, fresh ideas.

I first thought that I would have to take a pass on the June Haiku project – so much else going on this month. But when presented with the prompt word:  Waterways – I knew that I’d have to do something.  The Haiku came pretty easily.  Having grown up on the Great Lakes and steeped in the history and lore of the St. Lawrence Seaway I immediately thought of Niagara Falls.  And a more recent Falls discovery – Minnehaha Falls.

Minnehaha Falls, Minneapolis, MN

I am currently working on a couple of water related quilt art projects and did not want to start another one right now.  So I turned to another art form and designed and made Waterfall earrings.  Our Haiku Art project can be in whatever form we wish.  
Waterfalls    the Haiku

cascading splendor
mists rising torrents swirling
mighty falls thunder
and the Art
Waterfalls

Swarovski Crystals and Sterling Silver

Art Quilt, Fiber Art, Haiku, Haiku, Journal Size, Poetry, Poetry and Photography, Quilts

A Soft Day in Ireland Haiku Art for May 2011

Guila Greer

 

The prompt word this month is “soft”.  Now this will be interesting to see – how many directions will the artists go with this word.  The possibilities are endless.

This one didn’t require too much deliberation on my part.  During a trip to Ireland a few years back I latched on to the phrase “soft Irish day”.  It really captured my imagination.
It rains a lot in Ireland.  Sometimes it rains hard; sometimes the rain settles over the earth like a misty blanket. They call this a “soft day”.
steady gentle rain
Irish hills shrouded in mist
another soft day
I used fairly vivid commercial quilt cottons for the stylized hills then couched the edges with decorative fibers.  Then I quilted the whole thing with 40 wt. variegated cotton in shades of green.

I arranged a piece of tulle over the quilt and tacked it down with vintage buttons. Finally I topped it with a piece of lace (Irish lace?) .

another fun Haiku Art challenge
Haiku, Photography, Poetry, Poetry and Photography

Sunshine March Haiku Art

Guila Greer

>The March word is…………………Sunshine!

I am fascinated by the patterns made by sunshine as it is filtered through dense foliage.  Below is the Haiku that I wrote and the image that came to mind.  It is a photo that I took while visiting the massive old trees in the Armstrong Redwoods State Park in California.
                Forest Canopy
                Clefts in rain soaked branches         
                Sunbeams bursting through                         
                                         
Armstrong Redwoods State Park
Art Quilts, Fiber Art, Indispensable Tools, Quilts

On My Design Wall

Guila Greer

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Just took a fresh look at my “design wall” and decided what to finish up this weekend. I’ll have the house to myself  – no excuses not to finish at least one of these projects.
This is Beach Buddies.
Almost finished the quilting – just the sky and details of the clothing.  Then I will bind it and attach a hanging sleeve.
This is an original design based on some photography that I did a few years ago.

I’ve got mostly handwork left on this watery, fishy piece so it’ll be a good one to work on too.

And if I need a break from the stitching I’ll pull out my paints and get back to work on KR.  He really needs to be finished.

Art Quilt, Fiber Art, Haiku, Poetry, Poetry and Photography, Quilts

Faultlines of the Heart

Guila Greer

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When presented with the February word: “love” I thought of many ways to go with it – parental, romantic, physical, familial – even love of music, nature and so on.  But what I really wanted to deal with was loss of love – specifically loss of loved ones.  When my Mom passed away last year I had to deal with the sadness of her loss plus the fact that she was the last one. Her passing followed my Dad’s (by many years) and my brother and sister’s deaths more recently.  I reflected on how we all suffer loss of love – or loved ones – then have to face our publics as though everything was completely right in our world.
Here you have a heart that has been fractured into many pieces along the faultlines that were there all along.  And floating over the pieces of the heart are a tangle of ribbons attempting to hide the tears underneath.
Letting go of love
Hot salty tears flow freely
Bruised battered heart cracks.

All the red “shards” combine to form one complete heart. The pieces have been attached to the background with a lot of heavy quilting. I used heavy cotton plus metallic. The ribbons are hand tacked. Under the ribbons are tear-shaped beads peeking out. I purposefully left the thread tails and frayed edges alone as they are part of the over all feeling that I wanted to generate.

Art Quilt, Art Quilts, Fiber Art, Haiku, Haiku, Journal Size, Poetry

Hardy Rosebuds Thrive – January Haiku Art

Guila Greer

My goal was to illustrate nature’s propensity to new beginnings in the face of adversity.

A secondary goal was to try some new creative techniques or materials.

Lutradur – burned edges, stamped and painted with pearl-ex
Angelina fibers – stamped
Rosebud photos printed on cotton, appliqued and thread painted.
Purchased leafy vine appliqued
Haiku printed on Extravorganza – edges fringed and painted
Scattered beads
Sheer tulle layered over the piece
Layered and quilted
Edges finished with  zigzag stitch

Haiku, Photography

Haiku Art – Prompt Word for January is Beginnings

Guila Greer

The Challenge – Take the prompt word:  Beginnings – Where do you go in your mind?  Write a Haiku that is prompted by these thoughts. Create a piece of Art that represents the haiku.  You can use whatever technique or medium that you like.

treacherous frost lurks
tender shoots defy the chill
hardy rosebuds thrive

Photo Art by Guila Greer
Come take a look at all the beautiful art work on our blog: http://haikuart.blogspot.com

Quilts, Traditional Quilts and Quilts for People, works in process

Goals and Gotta-Dos

Guila Greer

One of the shows that I wanted to submit to has a deadline only 4 days from now.  There’s no way I’ll finish the quilting on the piece that I wanted to submit.  Darn.  Time just slipped by.  And I’ve been caught up in doing some very mundane quilting.  As in items that I promised to people and must get done.

However, all that said, I’m looking forward to receiving the first “challenge word” this week from our Haiku-Art group.  It’ll be “ready, set, go” with only a week to create and finish the Haiku and the art piece.

So far as my “mundane” work – actually they are 2 quilts that I’ll enjoy doing.  One is the softy sea for my younger granddaughter and I’ve got all the elements ready now to put together.  It’s been a fun designing process. The other is a lap quilt (a wedding gift) and I just finished cutting out the first round of strips.