Tyger Tyger

Let me start by saying that Boogie on the Bricks was fun as always. We did a little less than last year, but the rain stayed away and the crowds were good. The day went by very quickly and was a fun time for all. Thank you to everyone who sent well wishes in the comments, I really appreciated them!

Several years ago, I picked up Rice Freeman Zachary's "Living the Creative Life" and was inspired by the artwork of Kelly Buntin Johnson. In particular, I really loved her Tiger Intercessor. I emailed her about a possible barter, but as we were both kind of skint at the time, it wasn't in the cards. I still jonesed for something tiger, having loved them since I remember the clay tiger my dad made for me from an art kit we bought when I was 7.

Fast forward and several false starts later (beading projects gone awry, tiger colors but I just could not get the mojo to work for me) and I have made one iteration on the tiger theme:


















"Tyger Tyger", completed in late 2007 or early 2008. It's about 54" high by 57" wide (I am so precise sometimes. Apparently if it hasn't gone to a show I don't know the specific specifics). Each tiger face was reverse applique on Pellon 40 weight interfacing, then appliqued onto the pieced background.















Detail of one face. I used all kinds of fabric in this piece, from Dutch wax batik prints from St Theresa Textile Trove to the marbled fabric seen here by Marjorie Lee Bevis in this tiger's nose. I based my pattern off the wonderful embroidered tiger hats from China, and went from there. Each tiger is different, and though they are made from the same drawing, each has his own personality due to the different fabrics I chose.

The blue and white stripes separating each panel were inspired by the striping on the selvedge of one of the Dutch wax fabrics, and were my favorite part of all at the end. The quilting and the stripes reminded me of the stitching on a baseball. And on the back I used some yardage I had bought of Detroit Tigers licensed fabric.

Sometimes, like the Rolling Stones said "You can't always get what you want/But if you try sometimes, you get what you need". If I had been able to acquire the Tiger Intercessor, as wonderful as he is and as happy as I would have been, I may never have made this piece, and that Detroit Tigers fabric would still be languishing in the art closet.