Water 4 the World

Water 4 the World

When I first saw these images, my heart was touched by the need of so many people in the world.  Untold numbers of children die from the lack of clean water.  A thing that seems a fundamental right to Americans, is a daily heartbreaking struggle to others.  In the past two years, I have illustrated a series of these images in fabric as a way of increasing  awareness of the plight of half of our planet's desperate need.  These images were taken by the teams of  Water 4 when they traveled to many countries to both dig wells and teach the natives how to drill so that they could establish small drilling businesses themselves.

The Woman at the Well

30" X 40"

Last year I donated this quilt to the first Water 4 fundraising dinner silent auction.  The figure is hand painted on hand dyed cotton with transparent fabric paints, colored pencils,  inks, and embellished with bison hair, and beads.  The water is silk and wool roving and Angelina fibers captured under net.  The background is batik cotton and hand dyed cotton from India.

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Water 4 the World

30" X 41"

This was my donation for the second annual fundraising dinner earlier this week.  Much like my first piece, the hands were painted with transparent fabric paints, acrylic ink, and colored pencils.  This time I began with white PFD fabric in order to retain the light of highlights, much like the process of watercolor.  The hands were hand appliqued to a hand dyed  cotton background with batik cotton as the first frame and burlap as the outer frame. These fabrics with their divergent textural differences represent the transition from desolation to vital life.  The water uses the same technic with silk and wool roving captured under net.  However this image also incorporates small blue and white led lights that twinkle.  The water comes alive with movement. The batteries were placed on the back.  I used two batteries in order to use two sparklers so that there would be a random twinkle.