The inspiration for the pink and coral hibiscus comes from a trip to Kauai. Both original pictures were taken there by me. I absolutely love the island of Kauai. To me, Kauai is a spiritual place with great peace. At that time the movie “Soul Surfer,” with Bethany Hamilton had been out for a while. My daughter loved the movie, and I being a Christian valued the message behind the movie. When we were there, our dog which had Addison’s disease passed away. It happens to be the day before my birthday. Needless to say, a gentleman saw me and saw that I had been crying. He asked me why I had been crying and at that point, he gave me a big hug and said he was sorry. He then invited me to a Christian concert from there everywhere I went I attracted Christians to talk to. Even a homeless man (Christian too!) selling hats on the side of the road said, ‘God loves you.” And so I took these pictures of the pink and coral hibiscus and when I got home and saw them again I knew I would put them in fabric and thread. While I could never create like the Lord, I dare try.
On a side note, “Hibiscus means perfect wife or woman. In Victorian times, giving a hibiscus meant that the giver was acknowledging the receiver’s delicate beauty. In China, hibiscuses symbolize the fleeting and beauty of fame or personal glory. It is given to both women and men.” Flowermeaning.com
So this is my process: I used quilt shop quality Batiks and Aurafil 50 wt. thread. I made the decision to do these on wrapped canvas and as a set. I painted the backgrounds with acrylic paint and the actual followers are fabric and thread.
The Pink Hibicus was made in the same way.
As you can see I have started free motion embroidery.
I knew that I would do these pieces in wrapped canvas. Together they are fabulous. Each piece is 26”x26” .