More on collaboration

In an earlier post, I talked about a collaborative piece I'm in the process of making with Thelma Smith. Now, here it is again, but with (yet) another layer added to it. I think this will be the last, though I may have to consider what to do with the edges (probably nothing, I hate the look of binding, and don't want to face...but I digress).

The piece has been troubling me ever since I wrote the original post. I knew what was wrong with it, I just didn't know how to fix it. The problem was a lack of cohesion in the piece. There are at least three layers in the piece, each with its own distinctive marks, its own meaning...added together, and they make a fourth layer, which somehow fuses the marks and meanings together. But that doesn't necessarily mean that that is enough. I felt as if the fourth layer was warring with the other three. And I couldn't work out what to do about it. I had suggested foil to Thelma, who agreed, but somehow that didn't seem right.

Today, finishing off a couple of other pieces (more on that tomorrow...), I started drawing on the piece with a metallic gutta. That added more texture, the metallic gleam I wanted, and somehow seemed to pull the piece together. I have the feeling that I should consider adding more stitch to reinforce the drawing, but I also have the feeling that that would be too much...it would confuse the issue (more than it is already). But at last, the piece has cohesion. It has a mood and a meaning of its own. What more could I want? Well, a title would be nice, but doubtless that will come too, in the fullness of time. Actually... In The Fullness Of Time is a good title...

Well. That's done, then. Onwards and upwards.