Cabbages: Ready for their Head Shots. Grapes: Hanging Around.

Grapes and cabbages.  These are the images I'm creating for a harvest-themed show, soon to be unveiled by the Connecticut Fiber Arts Collective (CFAC), and about to appear in the public libraries of West Hartford, Middlefield, and Southbury.

Grapes.  Because we CFAC members got together to dye fabric with grapes, thinking ahead to a harvest-themed show.

Cabbages.  Because I grow them and consider their purple-veined, frilled, frosted leaves one of nature's exquisite creations.

I've chronicled these grape and cabbage quilts since their inception.  Today, they're finally completed. The cabbages are ready for their head shots and the grapes are hanging around waiting for theirs.

The two cabbage quilts, Glowing Cabbage I and Glowing Cabbage II, were two small studies for a larger cabbage quilt.  These two smaller studies taught me what I need to know about the properties of watercolors versus acrylics on fabric. I used watercolors for Glowing Cabbage I and acrylics for Glowing Cabbage II.  Now that I understand their properties, I'm using that information to make a third cabbage image, Glowing Cabbage III, incorporating best features of each kind of paint.  That one is still under wraps.  Meanwhile, here are the studies:

Glowing Cabbage I was made with Pebeo Setacolor watercolor paints.

Glowing Cabbage I--detail

Glowing Cabbage II was made with Jacquard acrylic paints

Glowing Cabbage II--Detail

Grapes.  Because we CFAC members got together a few weeks ago to dye fabrics with grapes, I also created a grape image, using some of the grape-dyed fabrics.  I combined those with sunprints of grape leaves.  Today that grape quilt is ready for its debut.

Hanging Grapes--Full.

Hanging Grapes--Detail

Now that I'm into sunprints, I'm also working on a sunprint of morning glory leaves.

Morning glories.  The image I've created will be called Salute to Grandpa Ott.  Who the heck is Grandpa Ott?  Stick around and find out.