Within The Eye

When is the last time you lay on the grass to watch clouds and name their shapes? One of the pieces I made for my Night Vision collection started that way, sort of.

Within The Eye by Donna Kallner

This piece is showing through June 29 at the Ed Gray Gallery in Calumet, Michigan. I used a bit of recycled metal and some plant materials to create marks on fabric, then worked with what I "saw."

Before cropping

It was more like seeing shapes in clouds than like the entoptic images painted on cave walls by some ancient shaman. But when I put down the needle and close my eyes for the night, I don't see clouds. I'm in the cave, with the story of a journey to share.

I layered the printed piece (a recycled pillowcase) over some silk from another dye experiment, then cut away parts of the cotton to reveal the silk.

I finished the cut edges with buttonhole stitches, and used the same sewing thread to work the looped filling on the figure.

The piece is framed with a recycled tablecloth, which I dyed and liked just fine until the piece was 80 percent done. After altering the color with fabric paint, the color was warmer and more evocative of the cave painting atmosphere I wanted.

I hope you have some time today to watch clouds skitter across the sky and imagine.