"May: Spiral from
the Center" 
'08 
Bead Embellished Quilt 9" x
13"
"May:
Spiral from
the Center"
by
Thom Atkins
the Center"
by
Thom Atkins
May started with a sketch of a spiral moving out from a face, interrupted by several spears or shafts. Using a wonderful piece of red batik with concentric rings as a base, I machine stitched on pieces of other colors for the spears. Then, first using caulk to draw the spiral, I wove it in and out of the spears, so they appeared to pierce the plane of the spiral. The most difficult part for me was getting the spiral’s shading to move from white to black evenly and gradually. The next challenge was to integrate the yellow fabric and so I introduced some vintage yellow beads on one spear and finally added the yellow spiral. I don’t know what it all means, but I enjoyed doing it.