Breckenridge

During the summer of 2013, Peter and I spent a week in Breckenridge, Colorado over the 4th of July.  Breckenridge is known as a resort town during the winter months for skiing but it is also a great destination for a summer get away and play too.  I was captivated by the beauty of this old mining, Colorado town and all it had to offer.    The elevation was a little bit of a challenge to get use to when we first arrived.   Hiking a short bit up the mountain we were well over 10,000 feet above sea level and my lungs were feeling it!

One of the tragedies that has taken it's toll on the forest lands in this area is a beetle infestation.  The good news is it is on it's way out after several years of devastation and forests are a renewable resource.  You can see the dead trees in the first photo below.   When I looked up at the mountain, I could see large patches of brown and gray dead trees that literally created a patchwork across the landscape.    If you look close, you can see a bit more of this in the last photo below.

The fiber piece Breckenridge was born out of the concept I created for Sedona.  (I talked about this in my previous post.)  I once again used the trees to develop my first element with linear strips  The Brown and Gray grid represents the dead trees on the mountain with  a view beyond of the lush living landscape that filters through the grid that  summer had to offer in full bloom.  The bright, freehand, cut squares are the second element in this piece.  I added the surface stitching as the  third element using a variety of colored thread.  The free and wonky stitched grid was an intentional  overlay on the entire piece.

What I enjoyed most about making this piece was the contrast I found from the darker palette used in this work compared to the lighter colors I used in Sedona.  Though it may not be evident when looking at the two pieces, what worked with Sedona, did not necessarily work in the design phase of Breckenridge.  I tried to introduce  small amounts of pattern in the gray and brown grid and it didn't work.  You can see small squares with a  little bit of texture or pattern  used sparingly between some of the brighter squares, but not many.  I found that less was better in this piece. I enjoyed the color and value study for both pieces.  

Breckenridge also measures 52" x 52" and was created with cotton, commercial fabrics.  This composition took about four weeks to complete.  I was a little more familiar with the construction after making Sedona so it went together a little faster.