Paperwhimsy Gothic Arches

Caryl is organizing this swap for Gothic Arches on the Paperwhimsy site. The size of these is slightly smaller than on the Gothic Arches site and of course we need to use Paperwhimsy images at least once on the front of every one. This will be a 3 for 3 swap. It's not due till way in the New Year, but yesterday, while wrestling with the largest quilt I've ever made (why???) I found myself getting out my collaged backgrounds and the folder with my Paperwhimsy goodies. I tentatively cut out the first arch shape, layered it up with white felt, found an image which went with it well and before I knew it I made my 3 arches. They're all called Summer Woods and use the same collaged background although they are all subtly different. Apart from the vintage girls PW images I also used PW transparencies on all of them.

This is a clear case of avoiding what I should be doing but feeling virtuous about doing something else useful. Displacement therapy is how I refer to it and I do consciously know that I'm doing it. If I'm really not happy with what I'm working on, I even go so far as doing some actual housework to get the feeling that honestly, I'm not idling!! However, I never manage to fool myself for long, and today I was back to the quilting grindstone. I'm handstitching and yes, I do love it, just not all the time. My self appointed task is to finish this monster quilt by Christmas at the latest and I should do it if I stop prevaricating!

The other thing that I ofter wonder about, is why my mixed media work is so different from my large quilts. They, the large quilts, tend to be colourful abstracts, inspired by modern art and playing with colour contrasts. They can be traced back to the influence of the Blue Rider Group in Germany (beginning 20th C.), Paul Klee, the Bauhaus, Gustav Klimt etc.

On the other hand my mixed media work is firmly rooted in vintage, nostalgia and a longing for the "Good Old Days". A rather strange juxtaposition in one person and yet one, that has been present in me, for a long time. Even when I was a student I was drawn both to the Early Abstractionists and also to vintage postcards and Agatha Christie novels. Nothing I can do about it but accept that's how I seem to be put together. I love both and am really happy I have found an outlet for both these strains inside!