Jeanne Reed
"Jungle Fantasy - Night and Day"
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| (Photos by Patrick Fraser) |
I’ve always enjoyed the naïve painting of Henri Rousseau (1844-1910) -- in particular the jungle paintings. Henri Rousseau never went to a jungle but he had a great imagination. He was a customs agent in Paris and a self-taught painter, which probably contributes to the rather primitive folk art look of his paintings. His plants, flowers and animals are charming.
For some years I’ve wanted to do something based on his work. Once again, being part of WJIF has given me the opportunity to experiment with an interesting subject using some techniques that are new to me. The hard part is to try something for the first time when I want my finished work to look like a pro did it! I would never take the time to tackle such a project without the support of the group. That makes it o.k. to let the house go and put something for me (us) ahead of caring for others. So I’ve dreamed, struggled, dragged my feet and stayed awake at night trying to figure out how to combine embroidery and painting with fabric appliqué in this jungle piece. I wanted to create a piece that is folksy, charming, ‘Rousseauish” and a little bit fun. I hope you enjoy it.