Well I finished it finally!!! I had some technical difficulties and kept putting it off to the side while I figured out how to fix it.
Here is a closeup of the face.
Not sure I posted this in a previous post but here is a quick explanation of this piece. The face is my father's. I used a photo my BIL John Armentrout took of him (he gave me permission to use!) My father was diagnosed with hepatic cancer right around the time hawks entered my life. I first had a visit in my back yard - he landed on my trampoline! The next day I found out he had cancer. From then on, they started to show up all time. On the day of his death, I was driving down the tollway to see him and they were everywhere on my entire drive down to my parents house. Since then I have always associated the hawks with my rather. So I titled this piece - They Came To Take Him Home.
The fabric was rust dyed and then the birds were sketched in with pentel fabric crayons. I painted the background in blue using setacolor mixed with aloe gel to thin it. I thread painted the birds and face. I didn't use a stiffer backing behind the face as I wanted to create the wrinkles without having to stitch every last one in. The result was great but puckered and didn't lay flat. I painted the background again using shiva paintstiks in blue and white to blend in a little more. Then I used a trapunto technique to fill out the face more and stabilized the back of his head. There are still some puckers but overall I am thrilled with the final result.
