Monday, February 2, 2009

Industrial Landscapes

Just finished the 5th quilt in my Industrial Landscape series based on the steel mills in Hamilton, Ontario - I'm sure other steel mills are just as interesting, by the way!! but the Hamilton ones stretch all along the very edge of the bay at the western edge of Lake Ontario - so there's a juxtaposition of industry and nature that is shocking, dramatic, startling and fascinating.

Rusty Answer

This is the one I first started, it has masses of handstitching in front - that's what all those little orange dots are!!
Actually it took me so long to stitch that I got the second one completed first! It's below:

Strange Beauty

I had it printed onto a small magnet, which I'll send to various collectors so that they think of me every time they make a cuppa tea or get a cold one outa the fridge!!!
The third one, seen below, is a close up, I was interested in getting a lot of texture into this one.

Heavy Metal

The 4th was somewhat ironic - I wanted to portray the griminess of the reality in soft pretty colours -

What pretty Smoke!

and now for the 5th one!!

Steel Yard Frieze
This one came out quite wide (70") so will cost me a fortune to ship to shows, I'm hoping I get a call from Hamilton Mills!!! with this one I was thinking how the stretch of the mills buildings along the lake's edge and the flattening because of the distance from which I was viewing it (sailing!) made it look like one of the old friezes you see on Greek Vases, or temples. Again, a somewhat ironic note!!

And now I'm working away on the 6th piece which is developing a rather heraldic look so I think might be titled Heraldic Ambivalence - watch this space!!

These, and other previous industrial pieces, plus sizes can all be seen on my website, please visit!

And if you have been, thanks for reading!
Elizabeth

PS I'd love comments as to which you like best and why.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

i really like the reflections in the water in heavy metal and steel yard freize. it is amazing how you get the texture of depth and sparkliness in a 2-d medium. and you know how i like the sparkliness.

Unknown said...

Wow, I love these, esp. the 2nd.

Jackie said...

Great fun to see the series all in a row! Thank you. I am impressed with the varied effects/qualities of the water and the light. I think my favorite is Rusty Answer #1 because of its glowing and the skeletal structure of Heavy Metal. Thanks again for sharing the entire series in one blog. Now I'll move to the website to examine them more closely.

Clare Wassermann said...

I really think your quilts are amazing. For me Heavy Metal's water is captivating!
You are very prolific - I'd like to know what size these quilts are?
I live in an industrial area and will look at the shapes again with renewed interest - thank you.

Marina said...

I always looked at industrial landscapes like at the most boring and depressing things but not any more… Your landscapes are astonishingly beautiful!!! Very creative, wonderful sense of colors, decorative and at the same time every piece has its own mood! “Rusty answer” would be my favorite, because of amazing composition and happy feeling(colors), but I love them all! Good luck with the next one!

Nina Marie said...

I knew there was a use for all the closed steel mills/factories around here! I'm really intrigued with the way you contrasted the rhythm and texture of the water with the stoic old factories. Also, I would like to know how you decided to change the scale of the pieces in this series. Why was the last one so large? Did you feel like it added more to the subject matter?
If you ever want to continue this exploration, Erie PA has a bunch more here on the Lake - gorgeous in their way and sad.

Olga Norris said...

Steel Yard Frieze is my favourite, and having looked at your website I see two more which appeal greatly to me: Milltown, and Midwinter. Perhaps it is the limited palette which I like best. Of course what is impossible for me is to decide which looks best as a quilt. I hope that I do encounter the real object(s) sometime because your work intrigues me.

Industrial buildings are so beautiful. I especially enjoy Bernd and Hilla Becher's photographs.