Gardens Into Art - a Fiber Artist's Take on My Garden

It's pretty amazing to see your garden transformed into a landscape quilt. A couple of weeks ago a fiber artist from Georgia emailed me and asked if she could use a photo I'd posted here on Plant Talk for a piece she was making for a class. The photo is of Japanese forest grass flowing around an old wooden Buddha, set off by a white peony blooming amid the blades of grass - an ephemeral scene in one corner of the garden.

The artist is Jane Broaddus, who started out as a traditional quilter and has gone on to creating items both useful and beautiful out of various fabrics. She has her own Etsy shop with weird, felted creatures and unique purses.

Here's how Jane describes the progression of the piece:

"Last summer I took a class on landscape quilts, and the teacher requested that we bring a photograph to class. Normally I work from my own photos, but being pressed for time, I snagged a picture off a blog posting about peonies (June 15, 2009) written by Valerie Easton (www.valeaston.com). I initially took that picture to class figuring I would just use it to learn new techniques. But then I fell in love both with the photograph and the project. So next I thought it prudent to ask Ms. Easton’s permission to use her photograph before I proceeded to completion. I offered to give her full credit for the photograph that was the inspiration for my work if I displayed the piece anywhere. She graciously gave me permission for its use."

I had no idea Jane's work, in cotton, silk, paper and paint, would be so evocative of living plants and a scene so dear to my heart. She's captured the serenity of the Buddha, the liquid, flowing nature of the grasses and the overblown explosion of peony with fabric and thread. The piece is 18.5 x 25 inches....Here's the original photo and Jane's interpretation:

 

Comments

[Chris]

Wow, that's amazing...I love your Buddha! I just had a similiar experience with a photo I had taken of one of my favorite places in the world. Loon Lake, BC. While there a couple yrs. ago I met a young artist who agreed to take my photograph of the place we both love and paint it for me. She just completed it this week and we are heading to Vancouver next week to pick it up!
Your artist perfectly captured that corner of your garden in another medium...that is always so fascinating to me!

[Jane Broaddus]

Thanks for the nice write-up. I am inspired to do more photograph-to-fabric interpretations of other gardens. Right now, I'm working on fabric portraits of iconic stone lions. After I'm through with that project, I'll look at my photos of Huntington gardens in California--lots of succulents & cacti.