Shooting the Moon
Linda Syverson Guild
Bethesda, Maryland, USA
Artist Statement
‘Shooting the Moon’ is an idiom that Urban Dictionary suggests “Attempting the near-impossible.”
When I thought of this phrase, the mental image of a hand throwing dice at the moon materialized instantly. In the next moment, I completed the target with a crescent moon as the center and a stone Moon Gate framing the moon and night sky. The entire moon is actually there, but a crescent was selected because it provided a trough to visually catch the dice.
Techniques
The moon is hand painted and turned applique, the hand is hand painted with raw edge applique. The Moon Gate is raw edge pieced with a tulle overlay, the stones are captured in the tulle except at the edge of the Moon Gate, then they are machine stitched. The night sky was pieced and then a bit of gold paint was added to reinforce the path of the dice as they flew to the crescent moon. The dice are hand appliqued.
Materials
Hand dyed and commercially printed cotton fabrics were used. Tulle overlaid the stone of the Moon Gate. Fabric paints were used to accent the fabrics. The dice are photographs.