ArtistEileen Doughty
White Ash Latewood Tangential x 300
Date2004
MediumFiber
Dimensions25 × 24 in. (63.5 × 61 cm)
Framed Size: 31 1/2 × 29 3/4 in. (80 × 75.6 cm)
Credit LineDC Commission on the Arts and Humanities Wilson Building Collection
Object numberDCCAH2006.139
ClassificationsTextiles
Locations
- Wilson Building Art Collection (1350 Pennsylvania Ave NW)
DescriptionSometimes the inspiration for art comes from an unexpected source. Eileen Doughty’s father-in-law was cleaning out some of his books and gave her one entitled Inside Wood, by William M. Harlow. It is a slim book but dense reading (unless you are into wood technology). As a lifelong tree lover, the book's photographs of the microscopic designs in wood fascinated me. The tree species, life history of the particular tree, angle of the wood cut, and of course the amount of magnification all affect the cell patterns.
Each of the quilts in Doughty’s “Wood” series (seven in all) show several aspects of a tree. First, Doughty painted a background and leaves on white cotton cloth (and for the pine, included pinecones). Then Doughty drew the shape of the tree's trunk and branches with fabric pastels. The cloth was centered on a larger piece of cotton batting and a backing fabric, and quilted the cell patterns in various threads. Red paint was added in the circular cells on the ash, and bronze foil on the pine. Next acrylic paint was used to add the bark pattern as a border, painting directly on the cotton batting. The 'border' is unquilted.
