Some progress

Doorways is coming along.  I started with 6 prints, all of which showed some sort of portal.  I'm designing a surrounding border for each piece that takes inspiration from the type of stonework shown within the print itself.  The four I have finished were sort of bla-a-h, so I attacked them with Inktense pencils, and the result was dramatic--a big improvement.  I experimented with the pencils and found that applying them to damp fabric made the colour too intense, so I'm using them lightly, and then dampening the piece with a paint brush.  More and more I'm thinking that I might only want to use five of the six in the hanging.  I scrapped the original paprika print fabric I had chosen for the background, in favour of a dark charcoal grey, that makes the individual pieces sing.  There is only a small piece of the grey, so this will impact on how large the final hanging will be, and how the individual prints will have to be arranged. Regardless of how I proceed, it will be a somber piece, and not in my usual style. 

Normally, I have the entire piece planned in my head before I eve start working.  In this case I have a general idea, but am really designing as I work along.  While I feel a slight loss of control, this allows the piece to actually speak to me, and forces me to think about everything I do, instead of operating on automatic pilot.  Maybe my muse is coming to life.