One of my very favorite books is "Five Smooth Stones" by Ann Fairbairn which was first published in 1966. I have read this book many many times and it never fails to touch me. It is the story of David Champlin, a black man born into poverty in Depression-era New Orleans who achieves great success and then sacrifices everything to lead his people in the difficult, day-by-day struggle of the civil rights movement. Sara Kent is the beloved and vital white girl who loved David from the moment she first saw him, but they struggled over David's belief that a marriage for them would not be right in the violent world he had to confront.
In the book, Sara, who is an artist, paints a picture of a small defiant black child standing with his back to the viewers, facing a cold, totally white canvas. The description of that painting has always stuck in my mind and I have always wished I could see it in real life, although it is just a fictional piece of art. Every time I think of this book the description of this painting is always one of the first things to come to my mind. As soon as I read the challenge for July, I knew I HAD to do this.
This was the perfect chance for me to recreate that painting as my book cover!
I really like the simplicity of this as it is and am not sure how I am quilting this, or even if I am, I may stretch it onto a frame the way it is or use some other method to attach it to a canvas or board. The color is off, the background is supposed to be stark white, but I can never get a good shot in here at night no matter how I try. The little boy is applique done with fusible webbing, his shadow is colored pencil, I added the stones to represent the title of the book and will attach them using either tulle or by gluing them to the canvas, depending on which method I decide to finish this with.
If you haven't read Five Smooth Stones yet I highly recommend that you add it to your *must read* list.
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