Illusion and Fantasy, (sketchbook development)

This is a photo I took of my daughter in her kitchen one sunny morning. It shows her reflection against the glass door into her garden, which is why the leaves from the trees and bushes outside can be seen in the image of her silhouette. I have used this image before in my artwork, and continue to come back to it from time to time. 

Above and below show further development.

Then I decided to play around with the profile, to see if I could use the idea for a Mother and Child theme.

Here I have used some scraps from a hand embroidered cloth, trying to capture an idea from the foliage showing through on the photo. Below, I have copied the image after experimenting with some filters in photoshop.

I thought I would have a go at some collage, using paper from an old magazine.

Unfortunately, I think I have moved further away from the idea of fantasy and illusion, so decided to use a different image from my archive of photos.

The image above shows a small stitched piece that I made some time ago. It was inspired by a photo I took of the remains of a dead tree in a local park. To me, it reminded me of a female torso.

I have drawn it again in my sketchbook, using a background of trees from an old book, which I have knocked back with paint to give a slightly misty effect. It almost looks like the naked torso of a woman dancing amongst the trees! Well, at least to me it does! I may add some other fantastical creatures into the scene during my next art class.

Finally, patterns inspired by the markings on the wings of butterflies and moths. Again, not sure where these ideas are going, illusion and fantasy is proving to be a rather challenging subject this term, but it's always good to be challenged out of our comfort zones.