Saturday, October 1, 2016

Cotton...real cotton


My husband is the best! I mentioned that I'd like to have a stalk or two of the cotton that is now drying in the fields. 

The fields are not far from our home, so it wasn't a huge issue, but still, he made the effort for me. I've been playing with painting cotton on canvas after I learned how in a class at school last spring. I wrote about the class here and some of the works that I created here and here







Now I have actual cotton bolls, stems and leaves to look at as I paint. I am hopeful that I will be a better painter if I can look at the actual thing rather than try to remember the details.

All of these came from one plant, which was easily three feet tall--too tall to handle. I trimmed the plant by cutting each stem down near the trunk and removing most of the dead stuff.  I tried to arrange the stems like I do with flowers, but these babies are stiff and do not bend. 


They also are hard enough to bite like thorns, so I ended up shoving them down in the vase and leaving them alone. They live in the studio on top of my old card catalog chest. I can move them so long as I touch only the glass vase. 

Now there are no excuses...it's back to painting for me! Thanks darling husband!

What projects do you have no excuses for anymore?

1 comment:

jenclair said...

Love the cotton bolls, Mary! We used to have so many cotton fields in our area, but most fields have gone to soy beans now. Good for you for having so much fun with your painting class and continuing to enjoy the pleasure of combining the painting with your lovely quilts!