Saturday Share

 I've done a couple of rounds of being nominated by friends on facebook to post photos of past projects. And while I've been enjoying sharing on that format, one of my friends made the (fairly obvious now that I think about it) comment that I should be writing down my stories and sharing them on my blog.  

So here we go!

Each week I'll post a photo of a project that I've created and talk a little about the technique, inspiration or life of the piece. 

Wide Open Spaces (Homestead on the Hi-Line)  

by Monique Kleinhans

Montana is known for beautiful mountain scenery, clear lakes and streams and for stunning 'big skies'. But on the wide-open spaces and fields you'll find old homesteads still standing as sentinels of the past. Their strength and longevity are a testimony to the fortitude of those settlers 

who once occupied their walls. 

I love creating old homesteads out of a variety of fibers and textiles. The combination of layers of thread, fabrics, felt and roving represent the many layers of time and uses these old buildings have seen.

This homestead was created entirely of layers of thread and placed 

on a felted and thread painted field under a hand painted sky. 

My favorite story of this piece however, came from when I was showing it at an art festival in Northwest Montana. A young woman was passing and stopped to have a closer look at the piece, remarking that she was always drawn to old buildings. She started to reminisce about her family's homestead up on the Hi-line that had unfortunately burned to the ground. As she started to describe the area where the builds once stood, I realized that the photos that I taken on a long drive home from the Hi-line following a family member's memorial service a couple years prior would have come from that exact area. We compared notes, and sure enough, this piece was based on a photo I took of her family's old homestead. I was never happier to have one of my art 'kids' be adopted!