From Sketch to Stitch

My Aurifil thread color palette for my latest series "Field Notes"

Field Notes was born out of several loves, passions of mine:

The love of the prairie.
The love of crops as they rise out of the ground each year.
The love of the symmetry and simplicity of how the fields themselves are arranged in the countryside.

Field Notes in progress on my table.

Some color studies.

Watercolor crayons, water soluble oil pastels, and water soluble graphite on sketchbook paper.

The Cottonwood Stand

The Cottonwood Stand at Bjorkboda Marsh

Bjorkboda Marsh 060613

Near Bjorkboda Marsh in Hamilton County.

Native prairie plants at the marsh.

The marsh has water once again, it took a LOT of rain for the water levels to return to normal.

The Marsh is Green!

Well after it dried up it rained, but not enough to fill the marsh again, now it's filled with vegetation most of it appears to be fox tail.

Bjorkboda marsh all greened up, can't wait for the rains to fill it again.

To Couch or Not to Couch

Indigo and tannin dyed sisal, am contemplating couching some to the surface of Bjorkboda.

Definately not as one mass but more like bits and pieces, more like the stand of cottonwoods at the marsh bent, broken, and leaning.

And maybe a little knotted, like the vines that creep over the cottonwood trunks.

More Wind Damage

Bjorkboda Marsh - Cottonwoods

Wind Damage at the Marsh

Lots of trees down at the marsh, we had some storms rip through here last week with high winds. 

One of the younger trees also came down in the wind storm.

WIP - Bjorkboda

I'm almost ready for the hand stitching, I filled in a bit more of the piece with machine stitching to reinforce it's structure.

The forgotten dye note text now dealt with which resulted in more brown scraggly stitching being added to the piece in a random manner. 

Some verticles.

I've started thinking about the cottonwoods and how stoic they look when shrouded in the ice fog of deep winter. 

Bjorkboda Marsh - 080912

The marsh is now dried up, the grass has greened up after this past weeks rains, am  hoping the birds return and soon.

Bjorkboda Marsh

Went out to the marsh this afternoon for a much needed infusion of inspiration!!!

Now to spend some time in the studio this evening working with a fresh mind!

WIP - Bjorkboda

On my sewing table so that the stitching will pop.

More Details

The puffy areas will be stitched down in other colors.

Swamp Milkweed

Swamp Milkweed or Asclepias incarnata

Trumpeter Swans

The trumpeter swans have moved from the marsh over to the USDA pond, which doesn't have near enough water.

Drought at the Marsh

This is the lowest I've ever seen the marsh before.

Red Winged Black Bird taken at Cooper's Marsh, Story County, Iowa.

Inspiration 061212

Found in the parking lot at Cooper's Marsh, Story County, Iowa.

Cottonwood Stand

A beginning sketch on cotton fabric, more pen and ink and then some stitching and then maybe I'll rust and compost it for some additional color.

My favorite Sycamore Tree.

Stand of Cottonwood Trees at Bjorkboda Marsh

Swan Dance

Bjorkboda Marsh, Hamilton County, Iowa.

Coopers Marsh 032312

Went out to the marsh to listen to the spring peppers today, took some photos and started dinking with them in photoshop.