Not Sure I'm Lichen This Piece!

On a walk along the bluff trail on The Sea Ranch, I was struck by all the “round things” on the rocks.  From a nearby footbridge, I couldn’t tell what they were, so I ventured down with my camera, then emailed the close-ups to nature-loving friends, asking them to educate me. I learned that I was seeing a variety of lichens.  

One of my goals this year is to work abstractly, so this represents the “essence” of lichen on the rocks. Maybe it’s not enough of an abstraction, but it certainly doesn’t have all the depth, detail, or perspective of (photo)realistic work.  Can you tell there’s a stream that trickles between the crevices and emerges below, where it gives life to green grasses? that dried weeds abut the biggest boulder?  Frankly, it doesn’t matter. The piece is more about an impression and texture.

Another goal was to do some exercises Hollis Chatelain assigned in our workshop last October, in preparation for this year’s class. It is very unusual for me to use so little color, but I began this “exercise” with a composition in all neutrals and I tried to add luminosity with threads, particularly by using various values of semi-neutral colors. Then I “cheated” by free-motion stitching on snippets of fabric scraps (cut like confetti with a rotary cutter) to give the lichen texture. And I “cheated” again by dabbing some acrylic paint on them. Both of those techniques were FUN! And faster than bringing in so much color with thread.

I thought the pale green-grey “water” was so light that it looked like “sky,” so added horizontal and other "grassy" green lines to the pool of water to bring it forward and flatten it out a bit. So, it is what it is. I’m going to let go! 

Thanks to my friends, Bev who showed me how to use snippets and Sue whose scraps became my lichen. Joan, author of the inspiring ROSEGARDENQUILTS blog, encouraged me to "just do it."

Comments are welcome!

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