After nearly a year of false starts and missed connections, Postcard from Rajasthan has finally been delivered to the man whose photography inspired the quilt, Henry Dallal. I wrote this to accompany the wallhanging:Captivated by the craggy-faced man and beautiful Mawari horse, I was inspired by Henry Dallal's photo to create this 45 x 60 inch wall hanging. I worked on this piece for about a year. The photo was enlarged to create a pattern, from which various commercial fabrics were cut and assembled on a muslin base. Intensive thread painting defined features and provided dimensionality.
In a nod to traditional quilting, I pieced the sky from half-square triangles in a close range of blues. The beaded fringe was created over many July evenings, while watching the Red Sox on TV with my father-in-law. The ornate frame, quilted in hexagons with gold thread, harkens back to Persian hand crafted woodwork known as Khatam-Kari.
Completed in 2007, the quilt was exhibited at several venues including: Maine Quilts: Augusta, Maine (Judges' Choice)
Northeast Quilts Unlimited, Arts Center Old Forge, New York
Road to California: Ontario, California (Honorable Mention)
Art Quilts Maine Exhibit, Saco Museum: Saco, Maine
World Quilt Show-New England: Manchester, New Hampshire
While I derived a great deal of pleasure creating and exhibiting this piece, I always knew it would ultimately be a present to my dear friend and inspiration, Henry.
Quilt gallery and quilts for sale at: http://community.webshots.com/user/roconnorquilts
