prairie smoke

Mixed media collage on canvas
11.75″ x 11.75″ x 1.25″
ⒸCathy Haibach 2023

Most of the times when I’ve seen prairie smoke it’s before or after it blooms. You have to catch it at just the right time to see the glorious, feathery tendrils that blow gently in the wind.

I was thinking about making a prairie smoke collagraph but I had a small canvas primed and ready to go, so I made a collage on that instead. The leaves and stalks of this piece are cut out from cotton fabric and glued to the canvas, and the tendrils are made from embroidery floss. I rolled oil paint on it with a brayer and wiped it like an intaglio plate before finishing it with some abstract ovals.

$350