Once well into the larger Guardian Series, and having started to use thread and fabric, I circled back to the smaller, 15 x 15 inch Girl by the Sea Sketches on paper and hand stitched them to 16 inch squares of fabric. Hanging them in front of a window so they were, in effect, backlit, gave them a glowing ambience, sometimes hard to distinguish the girl holding the bird from the pattern in the fabric. This seemed to fit nicely, for me, with the idea of the ambiguity of nostalgia. What was the memory? And what was added later which perhaps enhanced the whole recollection? Although the scenes shift in and out of focus, the mood remains vibrant and poignant, enhanced by the backlit fabrics' patterns and colors.

Design and fabrication of LED light wall grid by David R. Smolen.

February 19, 2020