In Box CDLII and CDLIII

(Above:  In Box CDLII, left and In Box CDLIII, right.  Custom framed: 21" x 9" each. Polyester stretch velvet on synthetic felt with hand stitching and melting techniques. Each $195 plus tax and shipping.  Click on any image to enlarge.)

Right now, I have lots of new work in various stages of production.  This is one of the reasons why I never answer the question "How long does it take you to make a piece?"  I really don't know.  How does one account for all the prep work?  Ironing Pellon 805/Wonder Under onto the reverse of every piece of polyester stretch velvet in my stash?  How do I count the hours of a single piece when there are literally SIXTEEN on which I am working?

 

(Above:  Detail of In Box CDLII.)

Why so many?  Well ... the first thing I do is to cut squares and rectangles of each color of polyester stretch velvet ... making small piles.  Then, I construct the foundation layer on several pieces of prepped synthetic felt.  This way, I'm using the cut pieces before trimming the rest into increasingly smaller and smaller pieces to be fused on the top of the foundation layer.  So ... sixteen foundations are now ready for smaller pieces.  Yet, I went ahead and layered up these two skinny pieces.  They were hand-stitched in front of the television over the weekend.

 

(Above:  Detail of In Box CDLIII.)

Both these pieces were mounted on small pieces of acid-free foamcore, one behind every square or rectangle.  Then, the work was mounted on mat board where I signed it.  That gives each piece the look of being slightly above the mat board, as if "floating".  I took the photos directly through the glass.  This was possible because the glass is UV filtering and anti-reflective "museum" glass.  These two were fun to make.