April 19, 2015

spruce street

And now for the reveal! Presenting Spruce Street home portrait... A portrait of a home and a memory. This house was a sweet childhood home... and now it's time to move on, while preserving the memory of a joy-filled home and a wonderful place to grow up.
I had great ephemera to work with, from hand dyed vintage linens, to upholstery fabric and birch bark! I agonized about how to include that birch bark without destroying it. I think I have succeeded. A book page with a tree was perfect for representing a magnolia and a multitude of trees surrounding the house. Vintage linen took to hand-stitching beautifully to become the azalea filled front yard. Plastic mesh made the most perfect grass and the final step was the suggestion of the red maple tree ready to bud. A maple tree with a wonderful long history that started with a young girl and a seedling...



A bit of a surprise from me was the inclusion of mom and dad in the portrait...
Spruce Street © Natalya Aikens
I am honored to have been a part of preserving such lovely memory. Thank you.

4 comments:

Vivien Zepf said...

This is wonderful! I'm sure the owner of the portrait will be thrilled.

Gail Ellspermann said...

It is mine, Vivien, and I love it! My heartfelt thanks to Natalya for all of the thought and artistry that went into this beautiful depiction of my childhood home. This portrait captures not only the image of the home but you also magically captured the spirit of the happy and joy filled home it was. I love that you included my parents photo in the picture window! Thank you from the bottom of my heart - I will forever cherish this special work of art.

Karen L R said...

Oh, this is fabulous! Lucky Gail! So well done, Natalya.

Norma Schlager said...

I got to see this in person when Gail brought it to the FANE meeting. It is wonderful and Gail loves it.