Sunday, February 1, 2009

Salvage Chairs



This is a collage of photos taken in a salvage shop in Sonoma, CA. I saw this stack of chairs:


Then, in little vignettes around the grounds, I kept seeing more of the turquoise chairs,



I really love the stack of chairs. When I heard the theme, I immediately thought of those photos. I used the stack to make a thermofax screen which I screened on to a background that I made with soy wax, using found objects. The colors and ephemera on the fabric seemed perfect as a backdrop.


I also printed the stack of chairs on organza and cotton after cropping and changing the proportion. I added some signage printed on organza. The original salvage sign was turquoise and it wasn't working so I fiddled with it in Photoshop to change the color. The complement of the turquoise was what this piece needed. I then added the word chair in the Broken font.

Here is a detail:


I have always wondered what story these chairs could tell. Where have they been?

12 comments:

Karen said...

I love this mixed media piece, you have so much detail. The colors are wonderful and the presentation is so interesting.

Kristin L said...

The colors work so well on this one. It's almost like hide and seek too, trying to find all the chairs hidden in the layers. :-)

Nikki said...

Love the colors of the salvage yard! And how could you not be surprised by those wonderful photos.

Terri Stegmiller said...

Oh this is wonderful Gerrie! I agree with Kristin, about trying to find all the chairs on your piece. Those blue chairs are so charming and yet they seem so cast off as if no one wants them.

Diane Perin said...

Gerrie, I just adore this. It's quite clear, and yet the collage effect gives the sense of jumble that works just perfectly with the stack of chairs. I love the effect of the faded sign.

This might be my favorite of your pieces so far. It's just stunning, and I'm impressed at the array of techniques you used to achieve it.

Anonymous said...

Gerrie, you have captured the shabby patina of worn furniture so well.

And YOUR stack of chairs makes mine look like something out of Play School!

Like Diane, I think this is my favourite of your 12x12 pieces so far. I look forward to seeing what you come up with next, and what theme you select for us to explore.

Terry Grant said...

I agree--this is my favorite of your pieces. The colors are wonderful and the addition of the words works wonderfully. That photo of the stack of blue chairs is like something out of a dream--amazing. I love that you really used that blue and recreated the worn, layered feeling of the blue paint in your whole piece.

Vivien Zepf said...

Very cool. The in-progress photos and commentary are very helpful.

Deborah Boschert said...

Fantastic! What an interesting stack of chairs. I wonder where all those chairs came from and how and why the salvage folks stacked them up so high. I can totally see why you were inspired to create a quilt based on the photos. All the elements work so well and I really love this quilt! Since so many others mentioned that it is their favorite of your contributions thus far, I had to go check our gallery and review your other pieces. I agree, your chairs are certainly among your best work, but I also love the birds on the wire that you did for our community challenge.

Mostly Turquoise said...

Gerrie,
This chair quilt is terrific!!
It is my absolute nr. 1
Obviously this style is your thing, really wonderful, congrats!
Regina, St. Maarten, DWI

Kathy York said...

Gerrie,
I love your chair photos! Of course, the color really draws me in, but the stacks look great! And it is fascinating to see what you did with them on fabric. Inspiring!

Françoise said...

I really like the colours. And this stack of chairs looks so nice. Then, I was right with guessing what the screen on your blog was?..