Moon River
Susan F. Price
Springfield, Virginia, USA
Artist Statement
I have been a “maker” since childhood. The process of taking fabric and dyeing it, altering it with surface design and stitch, and turning it into something completely different satisfies my need to create. I love playing with colors and textures. It is both the visual and tactile nature of the work that appeals to me; time becomes irrelevant during the creative process.
For this “Fly Me to the Moon” project I chose the song “Moon River.” Growing up in the 50’s and 60’s, watching the Andy Williams show was routine in my home, so that version of the song is lodged in my memory, along with learning to play the tune on the piano; I can still visualize the sheet music. With music by Henry Mancini and words by Johnny Mercer, the lyrics are evocative of Mercer’s youth near Savannah, Georgia, and his desire to expand his horizons beyond his small town.
The seated figure on the bank of the river in the foreground of my quilt represents the young boy dreaming of far off horizons and where the river might take him. This quilt is an original design. In the bottom left corner of the quilt is a QR code, which when scanned with a QR reader on a smart phone or tablet, will link to a 1960’s performance of the song by Andy Williams.
Techniques
Shibori dyeing, curved piecing, fusible applique, screen printing, couching, fused Angelina fiber, free motion quilting; moon printed with half a head of cabbage.
Materials
Hand dyed and commercial batik cottons, embellishment threads, Angelina and Radiance fibers, various quilting threads, textile paint, MistyFuse.