First Place, Non-Professional Original

The inspiration for this piece comes from the desire to render a highly textured tree trunk. To counter the rough texture, the water and reflections are added. The final interpretation results in a strongly defined, ancient tree with its uneven bark and gnarly exposed roots, beside a slow flowing stream. The rest of the piece has a loose, soft feeling. It reminds me of a fairy land, with misty trees in the background, in a dreamy ethereal setting. One almost expects to see faeries hovering among the green knolls.

The main tree was stitched with a base of unraveled jute rope, dark wool, and wool netting. The roots are mainly jute. Green roving was felted into the trunk to represent moss. The background trees are wool netting deconstructed from a wool scarf. The low hills are painted cheese cloth on top of the painted ground.