Bark fusion

I bought a cheap picture, just a plastic printed sheet over this wooden frame yesterday, as the framers were not yet back at work. I coated it with gel medium, then some fabric paints. I was trying for a dull ginger, but try as I might with the mixing, I could not get it dark enough. Adding black just made it go more khaki. Anyway, it is good enough, with a bit of violet sponged on lightly. I stapled a strip of mat behind the bark and stitched through it. Not entirely satisfactory - not long lasting - but OK for now.

This is a closeup of the beading, the threads and the fissures I got from drying it over a log. The wide threads are sari silk, and the others are various knitting yarns. I washed and unwound the sari silk to make it softer for stitching.

It's such a hot day here - it's been about 36 before lunch and now cooling slightly down to 32. The Fohn wind has dropped, and the ground doesn't burn your feet now. Definitely a day for a siesta and then cocktails.

My friend Judith cycled over at midday, looking very hot and uncomfortable, to bring me a Christmas card that had gone to her house. It turned out to be from my ex-landlady in Brescia, who I haven't heard from for about 6 years. Like all those kind of random contacts, she told me nothing about herself, apart from the fact that she was going to Buenos Aires. No email address, so I guess I'll have to send a letter in Italian, since she doesn't speak English.