Home improvement

Several weeks ago I wrote about three small pieces of art that I started to make for the "home" show at PYRO Gallery this spring.  Although I didn't use them for that show, I did go back and finish them later, and posted the final results.  Readers Sylvia and Sandy both commented that they thought the pieces looked unfinished, and I had to admit that they were right; I was thinking the same thing but decided to repress the thought.

before

before

before

After these comments I decided I needed to un-repress and do something about it.  (I knew this all along, but pretended I didn't.  Self-deception is a bad practice.)

Sandy had helpfully suggested that maybe just a dark line of stitching around the houses to separate them from the sky would be sufficient.  And that would have been the easiest thing in the world to do, if I had only been able to remove the nails holding the machine-stitched pictures to the batik-wrapped wood panels on which they were mounted.

But I had done too good a job of nailing.  I tried various pry bars with no success.  I generally hate to use glue of any sort if I can stitch instead, but that didn't seem possible, so went to Plan B: gel medium.  Found some navy cord, twisted two plies together for a heftier line, and pasted them around the houses.  Definitely an improvement.  Thanks, Sandy!

after

after

after

And now I am DONE with these babies!