INSPIRATION: Vincent Van Gogh’s painting “Vincent’s Chair.” As soon as I heard what our theme was this time, I knew I wanted to try a fabric version of one of his works he’d painted in the SOUTH of France.
I fell in love with Van Gogh’s paintings as a young teen. At 13, I read Irving Stone’s book about him, LUST FOR LIFE. The book enthralled me, and getting to see his paintings “in real life” at the National Museum in Washington, D.C. was profoundly moving to me. Through the years, I have sought out his works every time I visit an art museum.
In 2009 we took a riverboat cruise on the Rhone River. My favorite day was spent in Arles. It was here that Van Gogh lived for the last years of his life and where his signature style came into full bloom. It was here, sadly, that Van Gogh took his own life.
Our tour guide in Arles showed us many places in Arles where Van Gogh had painted. While there, she would show us a print of the painting he had done of that site. Seeing those locations, along with the replicas, made our visit in Arles all the more wonderful.
“Vincent’s Chair” is a rectangular painting and didn’t lend itself easily to our square format. I had to widen the design, which of course altered the proportions of his original composition—(and didn’t improve it!) I made the box of sprouting onions a little bigger; now I wish I had enlarged his chair as well and moved it a bit closer to the box. Oh well! Live and learn. The fabric colors don’t precisely replicate his paint colors, but they are in the same color family
METHODS: machine piecing and quilting; fused raw-edge appliqué and narrow zig-zagging; machine couching; highlighting and shading the chair and box after machine quilting
MATERIALS: batiks and a few commercial quilting cottons from my stash, WonderUnder fusible. The “grout” in the tile floor was stitched first with Perle thread #8 in several lines of straight stitches with final couching. The tobacco pouch is suede; the pipe is “faux leather” (both glued down after quilting.) Pentel’s Fabric Fun Pastel Dye Sticks for the door hinge and for highlights and shadows on the chair, floor, and box. Colored-pencil for Vincent’s name.
Marcia Stein’s method of binding with matching fabric.
