It’s funny how sometimes you take the same photographs of the same places and, without even realising it, track the seasons of time through those pictures.
One of the views that always strikes me as particularly dramatic is that of Whaleback Rock here in Torbay. I walk over the crest of the hill on our street and the ocean is before me. Another five minutes by foot and I am engulfed in the visually stunning combination of blue ocean, craggy cliffs and sweeping hillsides.
The photos don’t really do it justice, of course, which is one of the reasons I’m translating my visual chronology into art pieces. Still working on layouts, but the series is in progress.
The hardest part of this process is deciding whether to simply do a four-season series, whether to vary the structure and composition of the pieces from each other or whether to simply use this vista as a jumping point and do spontaneously whatever comes to mind.
The artist in me says, “be free! create!”. The businessperson in me is tempering that with, “yes, but make a saleable series and for heavens’ sake stretch it out a good bit and make some money.” I have decided that will listen to both. The first thing that came to mind was the four seasons aspect, so I’ll start with that. Complete the seasons and work in a smaller, less expensive series that mirrors the larger gallery pieces. The next step would be to play with the structure and composition, trying different media (i.e. watercolour or pen and ink drawings), perhaps working the horizontal view into four vertical tiles hung side-by-side…. You get the picture.
Here are a select few of the many photos that I’ve taken from roughly this same point of view, to give you an idea of the landscape of my world and the focus of this series :
April 26, 2006
Feb 12, 2006
Oct 21, 2005
Oct 21, 2005
Oct 21,2005
And for a bit of a twist:
Oct 3, 2005 (taken from the other side of the bight)
Starting the Gallows Cove portion of the East Coast Trail.
a quickr pickr post
Raising the Bar Strength & Conditioning 
Hi Vicky,
I am so glad to have come across your site! I was looking for ideas, inspiration, instruction, and encouragement and found it all here! Thanks so much!
I’ve done 2 landscape quilts, mostly from recycled blue jeans. I’m not an artist and can not even draw stick people. I’ve had no training at all in art regarding perspective or whatever else art people study, but I do have an overwhelming desire to create.
Currently, I have a rather huge project in mind. I want to depict a giant golden oak tree in the center of a Scottish/Irish pastoral scene. This part of the quilt will be about 40″ by 65″ and will then get about 12″ more of borders.
This project is for a family tree. The TAYLOR family tree and I noticed that you have the Taylor name as well. I wonder if we’re related?
Anyway, my original ancestors were Scots/Irish who came to American in 1722. They had 10 children and 63 grandchildren and had settled originally in a place called “Nuttfield” New Hampshire. So, the oak tree will have a heart carved in it towards the base with the names of the original settlers. The tree will have 10 main branches to represent each of the children and these branches will have 2 rather large acorns with the name of the child and their spouse on them, and then an oak leaf for each of the children attached to the branch. I have made sort of an outline sketch but that is as far as I’ve gotten. I’ve been “interviewing” fabrics and hope to “audition” some of them soon.
I am thinking of tying a yellow ribbon around the oak to represent the many, many veterans in the family and hope to somehow incorporate at least a small piece of the Taylor family tartan somehow.
I have until August to complete the quilt. It will be donated for a raffle at the family reunion in New Hampshire at the end of August. I will not be present at the reunion so I hope to bring something really special to my cousins there in this quilt. If anyone has any ideas or suggestions on how to do this tree, please, please, please feel free to e-mail me at busybee1952@hotmail.com. I have no clue how I am going to pull this off but somehow, I AM going to do it.